


First, There Was A Flower

by Greg_Jonson



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7688443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greg_Jonson/pseuds/Greg_Jonson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story that starts some time after the events of Undertale - the true pacifist route. AsriFrisk ship. Originally posted on fanfiction.net by me.<br/>Btw the chapter count is a little off 'cause I don't count the prologue as a chapter so what is called 'Chapter 2' by the website is actually 'Chapter 1' in my point of view. :D</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Filled With Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a few things that I need to say as an author, so if you don't want to read through them, feel free to scroll past this text to where the story starts.
> 
> First of, let me clear things up by saying that in this Undertale fanfiction (or Fandertale, as I like to call it), Frisk TALKS. I know there have been countless fan arts trying to stick with the mute Frisk thing, but that's not what Toby planned out – to create a mute human. You're supposed to become one with the character while playing the game, and giving Frisk their own speech bubbles (or frames, in Undertale's case) would push you into a third person's perspective. So rather than coming up with a brilliant idea about how to make her stay silent, I'm just letting her talk.  
> Which brings me to another thing – in my head and, therefore, this story, Frisk is a girl. Probably not much of a surprise, I guess, since most fan comics and fan stories I've read make her female as well. Also (minor spoiler until the end of this sentence), I'm a big Frisk & Asriel shipper and I wanted to dedicate this fanfiction to just that – the Asrifrisk ship. And I'm not saying I'm against gay couples, just that I'm more comfortable writing about straight ones. Besides, we already have the royal guards and the SS Alphyne to represent gay Undertale couples, so...  
> One more thing – I'm going to try to keep this story as realistic as possible. Which means: A) that I'll stick to the original story as much as I can and not create any alternative endings different from the original game (and I'm talking the Pacifist ending, of course – that's the only one where we meet Asriel anyway); and B) that I'll not create any new, unheard of supernatural powers if I can avoid it. Sure, monsters live among humans now, big deal; but other than that, I'll keep it more or less believable.
> 
> I hope I didn't bore you with this intro too much. Now, let's get to the story already!

**Prologue: Filled With Determination**

First, there was a flower.

The flower wasn't very creative, so they called themselves Flowey. Flowey the Flower. Kinda like Donald the Duck, if you think about it. No? Nevermind then.

There was one more thing (of many) that Flowey wasn't capable of: feeling. Flowey lacked the power to feel any kind of complex emotions, whether it be compassion, love, or even hatred. Now if you know what Flowey's done and/or intended to do, you might disagree with the latter – but keep in mind that what they did, they did because of the very simplicity of their mind. It's kill or be killed, that's what Flowey repeatedly told themselves over and over – so, quite naturally, they lived to gain so much power that noone could kill them. Sure, they were a little sarcastic and black-humored along the way, but which crazy villain isn't?

Then, one day, the flower met the child.

The child that would have ended up dead by Flowey's hands (pellets?) had it not been for a certain flame of hope in the darkness. The child that Flowey watched walk through the underground, making dozens of friends along the way like it's no big deal. That was an ability that, on one hand, has proven most lucky for Flowey eventually, but on the other hand, has given them a few confusing thoughts – them, who couldn't quite understand the power of friendship, no matter how hard they tried, if at all.

And when all came to that one moment, the human, merely hanging on to the remnants of their determination to stay alive, spoke the one word that screwed things up for poor Flowey.

„Asriel?"

He tried to fight it, but having gathered countless souls inside his newly reformed body, all of those overflowing with love, kindness and overall goodness – his own soul, who he himself thought long gone, sort of came out of nowhere and pierced his heart like a silver bullet. Asriel turned into a weeping child (both figuratively and literally), being reminded of all the cruelties he's done ever since he became a flower, and, even worse, being able to comprehend them all. He suddenly knew that he couldn't keep all the souls to himself, torn from the people to whom they rightfuly belonged. In an act of a selfless sacrifice, he abandoned them all, letting monsters finally leave underground for a vision of uncertain, but promising future among the humans.

He then laid down in his beloved field of yellow flowers, waiting to turn back into one of them, and thinking things. He thought that monsters were weird. All of them living their own individual lives, little or big, happy or sad – yet united in a few matters. They all wanted to go back to the surface at last – and now, they could. And they...

...they all cared about Frisk very much.

That was a thing that just couldn't leave Asriel's mind. He had felt the souls of a hundred monsters saying that name in unison – and even now that they were all gone, he couldn't quite forget what a feeling that was. Frisk, Frisk, Frisk, that was all he could think. The human who he had taken so much from, who he tried to hurt repeatedly in so many bad ways – and who, in the end, had forgiven him for everything. Just like that.

Maybe Frisk was right. As a flower, Asriel was soulless – heck, it wasn't even Asriel in the first place. Perhaps he neither should feel guilty for everything that Flowey was responsible for – but rather make sure that never happens again.

As he thought this, Asriel realised one peculiar thing. He still hasn't turned into a flower. He could've sworn he's been lying here, among the blooming buttercups, for days, but his fate seemed to be avoiding him for some reason. He looked at his arm and thought that he might want to lift it – and the arm calmly rose from the yellowness of the ground.

Asriel stood up, confused, but filled with the will to live and love, to find Frisk and be with her once again, as well as with other monsters. Filled with desire to not let himself, or any flower version of him, lay harm on anyone ever again.

Filled with determination.


	2. Hopes And Dreams

**CHAPTER I: Hopes And Dreams**

Picture a dark attic in a small house. It's a nice warm, sunny afternoon outside, but you wouldn't know that if you've spent all day in here, crawling on every kind of surface there is – floor, walls, ceiling, wherever you pleased and wherever it wasn't overcrowded yet with all the others. Truth be told, there weren't that many spiders around as one would think. Sure, this was their oasis, a place where they could gather, rest and chit chat with all of the huge family; but this fact was also well known to all the insects in town, so they stayed as far as possible from this house. That's why at night, the attic would go almost empty as spiders began their eternal journey for food and, frankly, a good sport.

A single wooden staircase led to the bottom floor; some spiders would often gather around and eavesdrop on downstairs whenever someone was there. Usually, there were two someones, and one of them was the house owner. She was the one who had an agreement with all the spiders upstairs that they should not be around „her" territory that much. She loved them all – it would be weird not to, since they were basically family – but humans sometimes misunderstood the spider kind, either being afraid of them or even killing them.

Miss Muffet, kind as she was, spent the last 7 years among humans, trying to convince them that spiders are helpful and mean no harm to them. But there were too many who just couldn't take a, let's face it, giant spider girl very seriously. What she did succeed in, however, was opening her bakery, and it even took her just a little bit under a long time to learn how to make food that is edible for humans – kudos to her best friend, Frisk, who spent quite some time teaching her what the human kind likes to eat and what not. Since then, the business wasn't exactly blooming, but made just enough money to provide a moderate level of comfort for the spider house. As for Muffet and Frisk, the two bonded a loving younger-older sisters kind of relationship. It made sense since they basically grew up through their teenage years together – Muffet had just turned nineteen, and Frisk was three years younger than her.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Frisk was the most common guest in Miss Muffet's home. The bakery closed at 4, meaning that Muffet had more than enough time to go home and get everything ready for a daily 5 o'clock tea. She rarely ever drank it alone – Frisk was often around, and other frequent guests included Papyrus who's heart was just as pure and innocent as the two girls' so they all got along splendidly, Toriel who often brought everyone's favourite butterscotch pie, and Undyne with Alphys if they both were free at the same time and felt like going outside rather than watching anime at home. Sometimes Muffet would convince Asgore to come, but that was very hard to manage: he loved his tea, but unfortunately, he usually worked until evening, and if not, he had to make sure that Toriel won't be there in the first place. Besides, Asriel strictly refused to visit the tea parties at all, and if Asgore ever got an afternoon off, he often felt like he should spend more time with his son.

On this particular thursday afternoon, however, it was just Muffet and Frisk. They sat in the bedroom, Frisk on the pink blanket on her friend's bed, while Muffet had the chair by her computer turned at the human. The two friends had a jokingly dispute.

„For the millionth time, Muf," said Frisk, waving her right arm in the air while holding a big warm blue cup of tea in her other hand; „those shorts are an abomination. Like, it's one thing that you have to sew your own shirts and dresses, but they've got plenty of normal pants in the store already, so why would you stick with this... balloon design?"

Muffet took a quick peek down at her legs. Her thighs were, indeed, sealed inside a pair of shorts that could hide a basketball in each leg. She looked back at Frisk who was, by the way, wearing plain dark blue jeans.

„It's called 'style', dearie. Look it up in the dictionary since you obviously don't know what that is, ahuhuhu," she chuckled, and intentionally overly loudly sipped on her own cup.

„When's the last time you've seen other people?" Frisk replied. „Have you seen how many girls wear the same shorts as you, huh? Yeah, none of them."

„It's not my fault they don't know how to look pretty! Starting with you, F!"

Muffet shoot herself forward and forcefully pulled Frisk, who reacted with a cute squeak, up from the bed by her hand. By luck, no tea was spilled during that.

„I mean, look at yourself!" the monster exclaimed. „If i didn't know you and met you on the street, I wouldn't even notice you're there! You look just as casual as everyone out there!"

Frisk, with a great sense of caution, put her cup of tea on a drawer. „Really, Muf? Do you think **you** need a special kind of **clothes** to attract people's attention?"

„Well I know for a fact that if I put this thing on," said Muffet while poking on Frisk's leg, „I would feel like my pants are a jail for my legs, you know? I need to feel-" and she performed what might have been a move from a synchronised dance routine, „-totally freeeee!"

Fin, Muffet's pet that had been sleeping in his nest of empty bedsheets by the corner up to this point, was awakened by the sudden movements in the room. He rolled up and barked. Well, it was kind of like barking, but in reality, he was making sort of a „muf, muf" sound. He then crawled towards Frisk who sat down again, lifting Fin up into her lap where she started softly stroking his head-body. As the pet closed his eyes and purred in pure extasy, the human's eyes turned back towards Muffet.

„You know you can feel free and not have your legs look misshapen, right?" she asked her friend with a smile that assured her she doesn't mean anything she says. „Besides, there's no way anyone actually finds it attractive or cute at least."

„Oh really, dearie?" And Muffet sat down again while giggling in a way that Frisk has never heard her giggle before. The human's expression turned a tiny inch more serious than before.

„Muf, is there something you haven't told me?" she asked in an overly interested tone. „Someone asked you out, didn't they?"

Muffet wasn't the kind of girl who would lose her confidence easily, so aside from her face turning slightly red, she kept her composure as she slowly responded: „Do you remember that kid that I told you about?"

„The cute boy that comes to your shop every day?" Frisk remembered immediately, and suppressed the urge to squeal in excitement. „Dark beautiful eyes, wavy haircut and the cutest smile, **that** guy?"

„That would be the gentleman, yes," Muffet confirmed. „I mean, he didn't exactly ask me out, but he said he'll be hanging out in the club tomorrow and that it would be wonderful if I decided to swing by."

„Oooh, somebody has a wee little crush on my spider sister, how adorable!" Frisk proclaimed with a high pitched kiddie voice, pulling struggling and confused Fin in for a hug. „Oh, oh, can I come with? I mean, what if he wants to hurt you, I need to be there to protect you!"

Now Muffet laughed out loud. „I'd love it if I could take you with me! Buuut... the club is 21+..."

„Oh come on, you're nineteen and you're still going!"

„Dearie, last time I checked, these rules were made for humans. I'm a monster, I can do whatever I please!" Muffet chuckled once again before she winked at Frisk. „I'm just kidding, F. Of course we'll get you in, but if I see one glass of drink in your hand, I'm grabbing you by the ear and dragging you all the way to Toriel! And you know she doesn't like it when you don't act like a good little child!"

„I know, I know," said Frisk, her smile slightly descending. „We'll probably have to tell her we're just going to the park to feed the ducks or whatever."

„Ooh, you know she means well, dearie. She just can't stand the idea that you're growing up."

„No, she can't..." Frisk sighed, and lied down on her back, letting Fin lay on her belly. „Don't think I don't like coming here, drinking tea with friends. I love it, but... sometimes I wish mum would've let me do something more... exciting, you know? If Asgore lived with us, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Muffet smiled and looked up at the sky from the window. „But if Asgore lived with you and Toriel, wouldn't that make Asriel your brother as well?"

Frisk took a second before she replied: „I suppose so, why?"

„Wouldn't that make things weird between the two of you?"

„What do you mean?" the human casually asked, not willing to look at Muffet at the moment.

„Oh dearie, you two are **soooo** obvious! You want to be with him, I know it!" she heard her friend say, and she suddenly felt like her heart just wanted to break free from her chest. Frisk forced herself to look at Muffet and took a breath to tell her either that she's stupid or that it's not true – both of which, sadly, were dirty lies. Then she saw that the monster was blinking rapidly and grinning like she just overheard Sans perform an awfuly awesome knock knock joke – and then, Muffet laughed.

„You little-" Frisk reached for a pillow near her and threw it at Muffet's face. As a pillow fight, nay, a pillow war bursted out in the room, the human hoped that her friend was really just joking, that she didn't know how she, Frisk, felt about Asriel. One thing was true, they could be considered brother and sister – but the fact that she was adopted and also that Toriel and Asgore lived separately, both with one child in their care, helped her not think about it. But she still felt that she can't let anyone know the truth, not even Muffet, the girl with whom she shared all the secrets. This was something she intended to just let be; things were good the way they were right now between her and Asriel, and everything else could remain within her hopes and dreams.


	3. All His Standards

**CHAPTER II: All His Standards**

Funny thing about determination is that it tends to fade away. Once you obtain it, it's hard to get completely rid of it, but it's pretty easy to get distracted and before you know it, you forget about it. There are some people like Frisk, who get filled with determination simply by the sound of muffled rain on a cavetop or by the wooshing sound of steam and cogs; they can't really lose their will to continue, they stay focused on the goal ahead and hardly ever stop before reaching it. And then, there are people like Asriel.

It was a long time – seven years, to be exact – since he came out of the underground. Asriel stood there that night on top of the mountain, feeling a warm drizzling tapping on his fur, looking at distant lights of what apparently was a human city; and he suddenly felt afraid to approach everyone. The humans tried to kill him last time he went there, but that, in retrospective, was quite understandable since they saw him just as a monster who was responsible for Chara's death. He knew that if humans accepted all the other monsters, they would accept him as well. No, he wasn't that afraid of them.

It was all other monsters who's reaction he feared. Even if Frisk hasn't told everyone, or at least his parents, about what happened after he briefly absorbed everyone's souls, things were sure to get complicated. First of all, they thought he was long gone – perhaps save for Alphys and his dad who both knew he was actually Flowey, but there still wasn't any good explanation to why or how Asriel turned into a monster again. He couldn't imagine how everyone, starting with his own parents, would greet him since they all assumed he was dead. And aside from that, of course, there was the _trying-to-take-everyone's-souls_ thing. Would they believe that he himself had nothing to do with that, or would they blame him for everything Flowey was truly responsible for?

Those thoughts surrounded Asriel's mind like a swarm of loud, angry hornets as he descended from the mountain. Eventually, he only knew one thing – he needed to find Frisk first, before letting himself being seen by anybody else. She was the only one who knew the whole truth, so, quite naturally, the only one who could bring him back in front of everyone.

And here he was, seventeen years old, but feeling like a few decades have passed since he came from the mountain, embarrassed and only hoping for the best. He wished people wouldn't have made a big deal about his return – he learnt to hate crowds and being a center of attention. His good will didn't quite leave him: when he knew someone was in need of help, he was rushing to solve their problems with great care. He just didn't have much care left for himself. Asriel freaking Dreemurr, lying in his bed with both hands under his head, wearing a red and black flannel shirt and worn out sweatpants, just looking up at the ceiling, not actually seeing it, and listening to his favourite CD. Music was one of the few things he still liked; he begged his dad to buy him a guitar, a regular black Les Paul, about a year ago and he's been playing it a few times a day when he felt like he has nothing better to do anyway.

Asriel hasn't been going out that much. Sometimes Sans, who he thought felt a little responsible for him, asked him to come over when Papyrus was out of the house; the two would sometimes jam for a little while before ending up watching horror movies and drinking ginger ale and ketchup, respectively. Sans would often say that was the only opportunity for him to watch horror movies, when Papyrus was out of the house – he, even in his late twenties, refused to watch anything but romantic comedies and star shows (obviously mostly because of Mettaton). A few months ago, Asriel started going out with a couple of friends from school: they were the „cool guys" in town, often going to the club to just drink underage beer, play pool and not care about anything that happens outside of the group. Lucky for him, his dad was pretty laid back – he didn't exactly like his son being out until late evening but chose to rather not interfere, either believing Asriel can take care of himself, or just not wanting to suck at parenting.

Apart from that, Asriel spent most time alone at home, listening to music, playing his guitar and online chatting with whoever was available at UnderFace _*_ at the moment. It would only happen occasionally that he spent some time with Frisk. He still really liked her after all those years, but often didn't intentionally go and talk to her. It wasn't shyness; he wasn't afraid to approach other people. He just usually didn't know how to start talking to them. Frisk was no exception; he felt she was far ahead of him in terms of social abilities.

_*In case you wonder, UnderFace is a new generation of UnderNet. Both monsters and humans are using it, and it was this project that kept Alphys busy for the first few years after leaving the undergrund._

The most time they spent together was sometimes on a way from school – Frisk, being younger, was a class lower than Asriel, so it wasn't guaranteed that they both ended school at the same time. On a few days when he knew they did, he waited in front of the school for Frisk to come out, but she was usually with another friend or two so he thought he should not intervene. If he was lucky, she was alone and gladly agreed to walk around for a while, before having to go home, to Muffet's place, or her piano lessons.

During those rather rare walks, however, Asriel felt... probably the most comfortable in his life. It seemed like he could tell her anything and everything without her judging him, and he wanted to learn everything about her as well. It was good to have friends that made the exchange of thoughts interesting, but everyone needs that one kind of person with whom they share the same topic without an actual need to talk about it. Frisk was that person for Asriel, but sadly, he mostly forgot how on Earth did he manage to be cool around her once they said goodbye to each other, and next day they accidentally met at school, it was almost like yesterday never happened – even though every single memory of that Asriel kept like a treasure in his heart.

He hasn't told anyne about how dear Frisk was to his heart, certainly not his „gang" - he felt like this wasn't something the guys would like to talk about. His dad was out of question and so was his mum, who he didn't even talk to that much; and Sans would probably try to make some exceptionally miserable puns as he would try to hide the fact that women weren't his number one favourite topic either. There was noone else who Asriel would trust with this, so he kept it a secret.

He sighed as he allowed his sense of reality to return to his head. The sunlight was almost over. Enough thinking, let's go do something productive, he thought to himself. Five minutes later, ironically, he sat behind his computer and logged in to UnderFace, a glass of coke by his right hand.

He scrolled down a little and his heart performed a backflip – Frisk added a new photo. It was a picture of Muffet at the mall; she was sticking her tongue out, holding a pair of purple jeans in front of her legs that were covered in those weird pantaloons of hers. The photo description by Frisk said: „Some late shopping w/ my spider sis!" A comment chain underneath the picture starred Muffet who had written: „Thx but I'm still not wearing that tomorrow!" and Frisk who replied with „Yes you are they are adorable stop resisting!" Anything but that ballooney abomination, Asriel thought to himself but decided not to join the discussion.

Below that photo, a status written by Sans simply said: "Knock knock." Asriel typed „Who's there?" under that. A few moments later, he had a minor heart attack again – Frisk replied to his comment with „Don't ask it's a trap!" He smiled, and immediately after that, Sans responded as well – only saying „Robin." „Robin who?" asked Asriel. As he waited for Sans' response, he kept staring at Frisk's profile picture. It was a more or less regular photo of her standing on the street, but he really loved that picture: the sun rays were touching her face gently, the wind pulled her hair to the left, out of the photo, and above the rooftops, he could see Mount Ebott in the sunset. Just beautiful. Asriel certainly could not deny his romantic nature.

A bubbly sound reminded him of Sans' status. He turned back to it and read: „Robin' you of a good ending to this joke." He smiled again, and wrote back: „That was funny but now I gotta go do homework for skull." Of course he wasn't going to do that – a few teachers really demanded that everyone did their homework, and with those who did, he always had enough time before class to do that.

Polo, one of his gang friends, wrote him a message, asking him if he's up for a game of pool tomorrow evening. His older brother was supposed to be in town for the weekend, and he decided to gather a few of his friends in the club, including him, Polo. Asriel thought about that: on one hand, he liked the pool evenings in the club, but the vision of a bunch of strangers that he was supposed to suddenly be friends with wasn't all that convincing. He responded to Polo that he'll think about it and will probably let him know tomorrow at school. Asriel wasn't good at making fast decisions, before he did anything, he needed to weigh all the pros and cons of possible actions.

Suddenly, Frisk – another heart exercise for Asriel – wrote „Hi! How's your day? :)"

He replied: „Hi! Good, and yours? I noticed you went shopping with Muffet?"

„Oh yeah, her shorts were driving me crazy! She needs to look pretty tomorrow!"

„Why, what's happening tomorrow?"

„Don't tell Muff you know this, but..." A few moments of online silence. „There's this guy who asked her out to the club tomorrow, so we have to make her look lovable! ;)"

Asriel immediately thought something. „Oh, you gonna be there too?"

„Yup! I can't let her meet this boy on her own. :D"

That was the third time Asriel smiled that evening, and this smile was by far the warmest of them. Suddenly, tomorrow's visit of the club was meeting all his standards.


	4. But Nobody Came

**CHAPTER III: But Nobody Came**

'The club' was one of the few such places in town, actually. The full name of this pub was Wooden Club, and its interior held true to it, having been made of a variety of wooden planks and beams, as well as full of different wood themed decorations hanging everywhere, starting with pictures of bearded lumberjacks and ending with carved man and lady that were nailed up to the respective bathroom doors. A spiral staircase led to the bottom floor, where one could see flashing lights and hear dance music. That was, in any case, the image that Frisk saw upon opening the front door for the first time, and immediately thought that Grillby would definitely not be getting a job at this flammable place.

She figured she didn't need to look any special, so she just put on her regular jeans and a striped jumper for the evening. Her friend Muffet, however, was about to make a great impression on everyone. She, eventually, wore the purple jeans she and Frisk bought together the previous day; on top, she put on her custom (which, basically, meant six-sleeve) white blouse and a black leather jacket over it; on her head sat a black fedora. As she walked in, acompanied by the clip-clop of her high heels, Muffet looked around the room to check if most people are paying attention to her, and then theatrically took the jacket off, revealing a fair amount of glistering jewelry around her wrists, matching with a necklace with a golden tea kettle on her neck. In conclusion, Frisk may have as well looked like a dead fish compared to her spider sister.

Muffet saw a familiar face and waved towards a group of four people by a table – three guys and a girl, all of them, by the look of it, in their early twenties. Frisk was always curious about how people reacted to Muffet's appearance – to be more precise, the fact that she was a monster. The girl and a boy sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders have only slightly risen their eyebrows, meaning that they have already acknowledged her existence but this was their first chance to have a closer look on her. The other one, sitting across the table by the corner, was probably told that a giant spider was showing up, but having not seen her with his own eyes before, his expression looked like he's in shock but too polite to let it be apparent, concluding in a comic conflict within his facial muscles. And then, there was the handsome guy who asked Muffet over; he immediately put on a confident smile. Frisk was almost surprised that his teeth didn't actually reflect light.

„Hello, everyone!" said Muffet upon approaching the table, before she winked at Mr. Handsome and said „Enic?" in an attempted neutral voice, but with a handful of excitement and curiosity that she wasn't able to hide.

„Good to see you again, Muffet!" Enic replied, and his roguish eyes turned towards Frisk. „And I suppose this is your personal guard for tonight?"

„Indeed! This is Frisk-" said Muffet, and Frisk reacted with a friendly smile and briefly waved her hand; „-and she's here to protect me in case __someone__ doesn't treat me well!"

„Nice to meet you, Frisk! You are kind to keep an eye on little Muffet here, there are some pretty bad guys out there tonight," said Enic, and Frisk suddenly had a feeling that the two were perfect for each other with their equally weird sense of humor. The boy then spoke to his other friends at the table: „Everyone, this is Muffet and Frisk! Girls, these are my friends, ..."

Several minutes later, Frisk found herself sitting right next to Enic, while her spidey friend sat across the table in front of the two because, as she said earlier, she didn't want to have to turn her head from one or another if she wanted to talk to the other one. The guy in the corner who had been introduced to them as Throben kept giving Muffet inconspicuous glimpses – it wasn't in any case disgust or disbelief, just curiosity, like he would see an extraordinarily dressed punk kid with a funny haircut and feel the need to inspect every little detail. All monsters became familiar with that look since they descended from the mountain.

„So, are we expecting anybody else?" asked the girl who's name Frisk has already forgotten. Did it start with... a G, or a... J, maybe? Meh, someone ought to mention her name again during the evening.

„Oh, my little bro's coming up, he said he'd bring one of his friends... aaand I think that's it for tonight," Throben replied. „Eight people, that's just fine. I didn't ask for a big crowd."

„Um, sorry, Throben, is there any special occasion for this meet-up?" Frisk asked.

„Well, I just came back to town for the weekend... I live at my grandpa's now, it's closer to my university," he said.

„What do you study?" Frisk asked again. But as soon as she spoke, Throben's attention was drawn towards the door. „Heeey!" he shouted as he saw Polo, a boy from school, walk in – Frisk figured that was the brother he was talking about. Unless it was the person who emerged behind Polo's back, which it couldn't, because – and Frisk's brain froze for a second, before it started to melt completely – it was Asriel. She stared at him for a moment; his eyes found her immediately, and then he turned his face away, reached into his pocked and started to do something on his cell phone, or maybe he just pretended to. He looked cool, though. Nothing special at all – he wore regular blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a black jacket; and still, this simple combination was a perfect match for him. Or, maybe, Frisk would have thought so about pretty much anything Asriel would be wearing right now.

As the two guys walked to the table, the group realised that it would only barely fit all eight of them.

„Oh don't worry about this, we'll probably just go play in a few, right?" said Polo, and his brother nodded in agreement.

„Play? Play what?" Frisk asked in a slight confusion.

„Pool, that's what we always do when we come here. Oh, and, hi," she heard Asriel say as he sat beside her. She looked at him – as she was turning her head, she got a brief glimpse of Muffet, and she could have sworn she saw her wink at her and smile in amusement.

„Hi!" Frisk replied to Asriel, ignoring her spider friend. „Pool? Never played that before."

„Really? You can come take a look if you want to," said he.

„Hang on, As! Who's actually gonna play pool?" exclaimed Polo all over the table. „For the last time, stop calling me As," groaned Asriel, and Frisk couldn't help but giggle like a little girl. It turned out, only Throben, Polo and 'As' were up for a game.

„Well you guys are a disappointment," Polo addressed the couple and Muffet with Enic. „In that case, Frisk, you could come play with us! We need an even number of players, anyway."

„Hmm, I don't know... wouldn't I just ruin everyone's game?"

„It's alright, Frisk," Asriel looked her, a little ashamed, but resolutely. „You're gonna play with me. Those two can't win if I'm playing against them!"

„Oh, is that so? Are you that good?"

„Um, not really," he said, causing Frisk to chuckle again.

About twenty minutes later, as the four of them approached the green table with six fist-sized holes in the back room, she felt a little lost.

„Ok, Frisk: those," and Asriel pointed at a bunch of colored balls that the two brothers were setting on the table, „are, quite obviously, the balls." He let it sink in for a moment. Frisk loved his 'intentional dork' kind of humor. „What you're interested in is that white ball right there, you don't want to touch anything else with your cue – if you do, it counts as a foul, and our next turn will be skipped. Other than that, it's simple: make the white ball hit any of our other ones, either the fully coloured, or the striped ones, depends on what we pick at the beginning, well, rather get than pick. Get all of them in any of the holes around the table, without scoring with the white one, the balls of our counter players, or the black one – that one in the middle, with an 'eight' on it. That all counts as fouls, too. Once we get all of our colours in, THEN we can proceed to the black one, and once we dunk that, we win the game."

Frisk kept nodding during Asriel's monologue, then looked at the table, then at the monster, and proclaimed: „Could you say that again, but slowly?"

He laughed, grabbed a cue and said: „Nevermind, I'll explain while we play."

As the battle between the two brothers and her and Asriel raged on, Frisk realised this was a lot harder than it looked. The boys have obviously spent quite some time with this game before, and even though they weren't exactly professionals, about half of their turns ended up with a ball being sent down one of the holes. Her own turns, however, were hopeless in her point of view.

„A little help, please?" she asked Asriel about halfway through, looking at the table and having absolutely no idea what to do.

„Look," said he as he pointed at different things on the table, „if you hit it right there, at this angle, it could bounce from the wall and hit that four over there."

„You mean like this?" Frisk bent over a little and set the cue to where she thought Asriel meant. He went to take a look from behind her back. Polo and Throben were obviously entertained, but weren't hypocritical about it, since they remembered how poor they were when they first played pool.

„Here, let me help." Asriel suddenly placed his left arm gently, but firmly around her waist, making sure she wouldn't move around, and then his right hand under her own elbow that was sticking out into space. Frisk kind of froze on place for a moment; she was so very glad she wore the jumper today, otherwise he would definitely feel the goose bumps that he gave her.

„Just move a little to the left, there you go," he grumbled somewhere behind her ear as he adjusted the angle of the cue. She noticed he kept his arms on her body a second longer than necessary before he pulled away. „Just stay like this, and give it your best shot!"

„Okay," Frisk responded. She looked down to the end of the cue, where the white ball was. She glanced over the blue ball with a four on it. She took a deep breath and nudged. The white ball rolled away, bouncing off the side of the table; it hit the 'four' which then began moving as well, towards the hole all across the table from where Frisk and Asriel stood-

-and it missed by an inch.

„Maaaan, that sucks!" Polo commented on the situation.

„It was a good shot for a rookie, don't worry about it," said Asriel to Frisk, and he briefly stroke on her back in an attempt to comfort her. Truth be told, it helped her not be too upset about it.

While the two weren't able to win the first game against the brothers – not even the second one, or the third one – Frisk did end up scoring a couple of balls into the holes, each one of them celebrated with a high five between her and Asriel. She was having a blast nevertheless, but after the third game, she remembered Muffet. She looked at her cell phone.

„Oh my, we've been here for almost an hour and a half!" She was stunned, it really felt like a short while. „Maybe we should go check on the others."

„Yeah, I think I've had enough for now. Give us a minute," said Throben. „Come on, guys, let's clean up."

As he, Polo and Asriel started picking up all the balls from inside the table, Frisk headed back to their table, only to find the human couple sharing a passionate kiss. She felt a weird, uncomfortable shimmering inside her belly, but proceeded to them until they noticed her.

„Hey, you two!" she said, trying to play it cool. „Where'd Muffet and Enic go?"

„Oh, those two decided to go dance downstairs, you'll find them there if you want," the girl said, and made a face that spoke for itself.

„Okay, thanks. We've just finished the game, so the guys will be here shortly." As she set off to the stairs that led to the dance floor, Frisk turned around one more time and added: „And no matter what the boys are gonna tell you, I won all of the games!"

The pair laughed, and Frisk walked off at once. During the short walk to the spiral staircase, she thought about the thing she just saw. Why does it feel so strange? she asked herself. I've seen people kiss before, it's not a big deal! Perhaps it was just... unexpected.

About half-way down the stairs, she stopped and looked around for Muffet. She wasn't very hard to spot: apparently, she's been waving her six arms all around her so people knew they needed to keep a bit of a distance between her and themselves. Right now, however, one person really didn't count to them: Enic was actually pretty close, with his own arms wrapped around the girl's waist, and Muffet was hugging him back with her eyes closed, with four of her arms around his neck, the fifth on his torso, and in the sixth hand, she was holding a cocktail. Together, they were lazily swinging on place to the rhythm of a slow song that just played.

This picture hit Frisk even harder than the previous one – there was her friend Muffet that she knew for seven years, suddenly in a tight embrace with some boy. In an inner panic attack, she went back upstairs and to the table. Polo, Throben and Asriel were already there.

„So, did you see them?" asked the girl. Frisk forced a smile and said: „Oh, you don't want to interfere right now... Listen, I'm really sorry, but I gotta go home now."

Asriel's smile faded away. „What, why? Something wrong?"

„No, not at all, it's just... Sorry," she replied, mumbling. „It was nice to meet you all, guys... maybe we'll see each other again." As casually as she could, she picked up all her things, said goodbye to everyone and left for the bar to pay for her two sodas.

Frisk wasn't feeling ok. A million thoughts were crossing her mind; it was like seeing the two happy couples caused a sudden flood of humming voices inside her head. And she didn't want to talk about it just now... But she was kind of wishing that Asriel would come over to her, ask her what's wrong, and then maybe tell her that it's going to be alright... and hug her in the same way Enic was hugging Muffet, carefully but tightly, possessively but lovingly.

As she turned towards the door and walked out, she looked over to the table. Asriel was giving her a look – but not leaving his seat. As he noticed she's looking, he turned to Polo who was just telling a funny story by the looks of it.

Even then, at the street, as she dawdled home, Frisk was kind of hoping that he would bust the Wooden Club's door open, run to her and hold her tight, or just be here with her at all. She didn't want to be alone, but at the same time, deep inside, she knew she didn't want to see anyone until she's feeling fine again. Still, the thought of Asriel walking by her side was strangely comforting.

But, of course, nobody came.


	5. Just A Bad Dream

**CHAPTER IV: Just A Bad Dream**

He felt the enormous amount of power that was suddenly inside of him. Not only has the heart-shaped hole in his body been filled, it was now overflowing, and all that precious energy was just radiating into the darkness. As he concentrated and attempted to keep all of it inside, he felt his transformation began. His vision was becoming wider, sharper, and higher above the ground; he felt new vines emerge from his little body, spreading all over the place. He grew a misshapen, beast-like face that was now hungry for blood. He looked down on the human – so tiny!

He let out a maniacal laughter, feeling like a god. Let's see, how should I kill the human first? he thought to himself. So much power, so many options, and infinite tries...

As he shot a dozen of thorny vines in the human's direction, eager for their ultimate destruction... The human disappeared, and he was suddenly looking at a dark ceiling of his room. Asriel woke up, letting out a worried gasp.

It took him a while to realise he's not a flower anymore. He was afraid to move for a while, like it would call the nightmare back in. After what felt like an eternity in a void of unsettling thoughts, he carefully sat on his bed and tried to breathe slowly to calm himself down.

Flowey kept returning to his dreams occasionally, usually when Asriel was upset or felt emotionally broken. The good part was that upon waking up from the nightmare, it always gave him reason to think – he knew that he can't go to sleep again until the demon in his head is satisfied.

The monster stood up and approached the open window. Then he breathed in the fresh air through his nostrils, letting out a long sigh. He loved air. That sounds like a strange thing to say, but it was true – as transparent as air is, Asriel needed to taste it, smell it, feel it spread all over his lungs. The window in his room was open ten months a year, only closed during winter and exceptionaly bad weather.

Right now, he just stood there with his forearms on the windowsill, looking into the silence. He and his dad lived in a flat on the fourth floor, which meant that he was able to see a big part of the town from above. A couple of years ago, he would pass the time by searching for different people's houses from his viewpoint, but he gave that up eventually when he found everything he could.

Now it was good that he knew, because once his eyes had found Toriel and Frisk's house, he remembered the reason of his current state of mind.

Whenever there was a problem, Asriel always blamed himself first. That's why he kept wondering what he could have done differently on the last evening when Frisk stormed out of the club. She tried to hide it, but she was clearly upset about something. All kinds of different emotions whirled inside him, all growing from his feelings for Frisk. Asriel was worried that he screwed up somehow and a part of him felt the need to apologise, even though he didn't yet figure out what for. At the same time, he wanted nothing more than to comfort her and assure her that he's going to keep an eye on her; but he was unsure if Frisk, assuming she's mad at him for some reason, even wanted to see him or hear from him. And even if the source of this was not to be found within Asriel, he was curious about what actually was troubling her.

Perhaps the best way to describe his current state was a hopeless uncertainty. He hated not knowing, especially not knowing about someone really close to him.

When people in these situations say that they need to think, it's not exactly what they do. They rather let everything that bothers them flow through their brain, not looking for any particular solution, but rather waiting until most of the chaos fades away so that they can think clearly again; and only then, when the garbage has been taken out, is it possible to figure out what to do with their problems. Asriel knew that, and so he allowed his mind to go where it needed, and waited.

He didn't know how long it took before he became aware of himself again. All kinds of different memories and ideas rushed through his head, some of them were painful stories which reminded him that he needed to be careful about decisions he makes around his friends. One of them, of course, was the story of how Chara died, unwillingly starting off a series of events that, in the end, led to this very moment.

Back then, it all seemed like a wonderful idea: to let Asriel take his friend's soul, allowing him to pass the barrier, bring back another six souls and release the monsters from the underground. But already then, he realised he's not a killer, although too late to stop what was coming.

And yet, Chara was so close to him before that, and those memories will be there forever. Like when they brought all those flowers home and ended up spontaneously decorating the entire house like it's some kind of celebration. Or how Asriel first encountered the fallen human; they were both so confused back then, but somehow ended up being best friends instead of enemies.

It was a shame that things turned out like they did. He never should have allowed Chara to drink the tea. Such bad judgement he needed to avoid, whether he was a little child back then or almost a grown-up.

Such thoughts appeared and dissolved again in Asriel's inner world. But still, most of the time, they were focusing on Frisk. He couldn't shake off the feeling that there was noone else in the world that would make him feel this kind of confusion, worry and need in such huge amount. And yet, all these troubles were worth it a million times, just for the thought of her smiling, laughing, having a good time – being happy. That's just what Asriel meant to provide for her, nothing more and nothing less. Therefore, he knew that he couldn't allow himself to hurt her. That was one thing; but also – and he couldn't have remembered how many times he thought that in the last few days – he had to make sure that Frisk knows he will always be there for her. Asriel had to face the truth: he was hopelessly in love with her.

He finally moved from the window and turned around. He saw his guitar which he almost considered his closest friend in these days. There were times when he just took her and played his soul out. Those were precious little moments in time, melodies that maybe weren't played with an extraordinary skill, but were of a significant importance to him. Most of them were forgotten the other day, but that didn't mean they weren't once valuable.

And there he was again, at two in the morning, sitting on his bed with an unplugged guitar, just letting his hands do what they wanted. A slow paced melody based around E major scale started to fill the bedroom, somehow describing sadness and joy at the same time. Such is the nature of love.

While he was playing, Asriel kept thinking that he had to write Frisk a message to remind her that he's here. It was the best start; he couldn't just keep waiting in front of the school every time he wanted to talk to her. But what should he write?

'Hi, Frisk... listen, I noticed something was wrong with you the other night, and I was wondering if there's something that I've upset you with? If so, I'm really sorry, you know I don't want to hurt you...'  
Nope. He wasn't really sure if there even **was** something that he needed to apologise for, and if not, all of that message would be kind, but totally pointless.

'Hi, Frisk... sorry if I'm wrong about this, but you looked pretty upset the other night. I was wondering if you wanted to tell me what that was? I hate when you're not happy...'

Nope. This was just imposing himself on Frisk. If there was something that she wanted to talk about, she would, sooner or later, tell him anyway. And if not, there was no sense in pushing it.

'Hi, Frisk... you looked pretty upset the other night. You don't have to tell me what happened, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, no matter what...'

That sounded a little better, but still nope. This looked like a bunch of meaningless words, there was no good response to that. Asriel could picture Frisk replying with a simple „Thanks, I guess?" and he didn't want that. Besides, it sounded a lot like he's professing his love for her, and he definitely didn't mean to do that just yet. After all, there was no guarantee that she would accept his feelings, let alone reciprocate.

After several minutes, he finally put down his guitar and turned his computer on. Asriel had a lot more 'nopes' coming that night, but he finally thought he knew what he wanted to say to Frisk, and he needed to write it down before falling asleep again, otherwise he likely wouldn't have remembered in the morning.

„Hi, Frisk... I'm sorry that you had to leave so early the other night, I had a great time with you. It made me realise that we don't spend that much time together, which is kinda strange... Do you maybe wanna hang out sometime? I'd really like to see you again soon."

He didn't need to write anything else. This was true: he wanted to be with her a lot more than before, and it was also a way of letting her know that he cares. And no matter how hard he looked, Asriel couldn't think of a way to ask directly about her early leaving without sounding too nosy, so he might as well just drop it for now and ask about it personally if there's an oportunity to ask.

He didn't know what the future would bring, but he became excited about it.

Asriel hit 'Send', turned off the computer again and went to bed. He couldn't wait for Frisk's response in the morning. Also, he finally felt that his inner Flowey was satisfied, and while he closed his eyes and rolled on his side, he knew he didn't have to fear the flower's return. It was all just a bad dream.


	6. Something In My Eye

It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that Frisk has gotten the chance to talk to Muffet again. After Friday, her friend didn't call her or text her for 24 hours. She was a little worried but convinced herself that there is no need since Muffet was probably in good hands. Then on Sunday morning, she finally recieved a message, going: „Hey F! How 'bout an early tea time? My place at 3? ;)"

Frisk agreed without hesitating. She was eager for the news; it was obvious that things got interesting with her spider sister, to say the least.

As she walked down to Muffet's house, she was kind of nervous. This was a new situation for both of them so she didn't know what she could expect. But having known her friend for so long, Frisk knew that they'd figure it out on the way.

The weather was a bit crazy that day. The sun was basically frying people alive, but there were white clouds all over the sky racing with each other. The occasional strong wind actually helped Frisk not feel too hot under the sun, but it also promised to bring a wide curtain of grey clouds that would be stuck at the sky for a couple of days.

„Well hello, dearie!" she heard a familiar voice, and realised she's already reached her destination. She collected all emotions that she felt in the last two days and poured them all into a tight embrace with Muffet. „I'm so glad to see you again, Muf!" was all that she said. Her friend giggled and squeezed her even tighter before letting go; Frisk took that as an apology for not contacting her for so long. Then the two girls came inside.

„I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you anything yesterday, but..." And Muffet sighed. „Girl, it was intense!"

„So you ended up hanging out through Saturday as well, huh?" said Frisk as she acompanied the monster to the kitchen. The kettle was already steaming, and they could expect the water to be ready any moment now.

„Oh, you have no idea!" Muffet reached into a drawer for her sunday tea cups. She once said that they looked cute, but in Frisk's point of view, they were overly decorated and too... well, pink. „It feels like I just spent a lifetime with Enic in a single day!"

„Well then I hope there will be enough time to tell me everything," said Frisk, and they both laughed it off. Soon after that, they were sitting in Muffet's room again, the monster in her chair, Frisk on the bed, with hot tea in their hands and modern jazz music playing from the spider's hi-fi. The monster then began to talk about the Friday evening.

„...and after we were done dancing, we went back upstairs to chat with the others – and they told us that you had to leave early," she said accusingly. „Why did you leave, anyway?"

„Oh, nothing important. Forget it, I wanna know how your date went!" Frisk exclaimed.

„Okay then, but we'll return to that when I'm done, dearie!" Muffet winked at her. „You know, it was a bummer that you weren't there with me... But I got to spend even more time with Enic because you left, so I guess I should thank you for that," she laughed. Frisk didn't join her, only smiled faintly. The spider didn't seem to notice that.

„Anyway, we were in the club until like two in the morning, and we just talked about the most ridiculous things! F, you'd think we're totally nuts if you heard five minutes of our conversation. And after we got out, I realised I didn't want to go home yet, so we just walked around and kept talking. And we were holding hands and everything, it was so nice! I never thought I could talk like that to someone who I just got to know six hours earlier. Can you believe that?"

„Honestly, no, I can't," said Frisk, who felt a little pain in her heart. It was the same kind of feeling that struck her when she first saw Muffet and Enic hug on the dance floor two days ago. It wasn't exactly jealousy – she had no desire for Enic or her friend, obviously. It would be more accurate to say that she was a little jealous of the fact that the two could spend time together, openly passionate about each other. They made it seem so easy.

„And you know what the best part is? We were just walking, chatterig, and out of nowhere, he stopped and told me to listen. In the middle of the night, we could hear someone playing the guitar! It was somewhere really high so it was very quiet for us, but... it was the most magical thing. I swear I got shivers from how that... someone played, and then I just looked over at Enic and he's looking at me and smiling, and... well..." Muffet was now grinnig so widely it was difficult for her to talk. Frisk realised. „He kissed you, didn't he?"

„I'm telling you, he's the best kisser! It was perfect, us, and the melody somewhere in the sky..." The monster was practically melting in her chair. Frisk had never seen her like that before; she always thought Muffet was the calmest person. Playful and childish, sure, but always staying on top of things. Seeing her react like this felt like from another world.

„After a while, the music stopped, we kinda looked at each other and I said that I was hungry. We ended up going to his place, and we began cooking together! We made the best fish and chips that I've eaten in years! At four in the morning, for god's sake!" The spider, going back through her memories, almost seemed equally surprised about what happened to her.

„We ended up falling asleep on the couch at like... five? We were so exhausted after the whole night, and when we woke the next day, it was about ten thirty... I wanted to keep sleeping, but once we were both up, we started talking again and we basically haven't stopped until the evening. The short story is that we spent the rest of the day by telling stories and kissing," she chuckled, blushing a little bit.

„So you guys didn't even... you know..." asked Frisk, but felt too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

„Oh, no, dearie," Muffet replied in amusement. „We discussed what all that we went through means and all, and we agreed that we should wait for that a little longer. I mean, it's all happening so fast anyway, but we don't need to be that fast." She winked and added with a grin: „In fact, I **hope** he won't be too fast."

„Gosh, Muffet!" Frisk shouted, and they both laughed.

„But, seriously, isn't this crazy? Three days ago, I didn't even know his name, and now we're... a couple, I guess?" Muffet's face suddenly became serious. „Don't get me wrong, it's awesome... but it's a little scary."

„I'm sure it'll be fine," Frisk comforted her. „It scares me too, I don't know what's happening right now... But you guys are awesome together, I could see." She felt a sad undertone in her voice that she didn't want to use.

Muffet seemed to hear that. „Oh, dearie, do you fear Enic is going to steal me from you? You don't need to worry, girl! I will always love you the same!"

„And I'll love you too, Muf," said Frisk with a smile. „But I guess this means we're gonna spend a lot less time together, doesn't it?"

„You know, it wouldn't be a problem to invite Enic over for tea, all three of us could hang out together."

„Um, maybe if you had other people come over as well. It would be a little awkward if I was here with you two all by myself." Frisk tried to make it sound like a joke, but even she could hear that she failed miserably. Her friend's face looked like sudden realisation; she crossed most of her arms.

„Is that why you left on Friday? Because you would feel 'awkward' around us?"

„No! Well, kind of, it is," Frisk sighed. „I'm sorry, you know I don't mean it... but it's difficult for me to be around pepole who are... well, being a couple. What do I do when you kiss or sweet talk to each other, pretend I'm not there?"

Muffet just stared at her for a couple of seconds; she seemed to be thinking. „I get it, F... But I can't not think that you're a little jealous of us as well, is that right?"

„Maybe a little, but that's my problem, not yours," said Frisk. She was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable about this topic.

„False! You're like a sister to me, your problems are my problems!" said Muffet as she got up from her chair and came sit next to her friend. „I realised we've never really talked about feelings... My, that sounds awful when you say that out loud, but still."

„You're not really one to talk about such things, and neither am I."

„I know, but... now it makes me feel left out." Frisk looked at the spider and realised she's been trying to get her look into her eyes. „Right now, it seems right to talk about it."

„There is nothing to talk about," Frisk retorted and brought herself down on her back.

Truth be told, she really did not want to analyse her feelings with anyone, even after what happened to her on Friday night. She felt sick; was this really what being in love felt like? It shouldn't have, according to Muffet and Enic who just fell right in the middle of it. Frisk couldn't understand how they did it – for her, it seemed so distant, so surreal to even think about. Then again, Muffet was her best friend in the whole world, and now it turned out that she was actually worrying about her. Perhaps she deserved the truth... But would she be understanding? What if she discourages her, what if she laughs? But the longer she thought about it, the more she could feel all that she kept locked inside moving, desperate to get out all at once.

Frisk noticed she's just been lying there for a while, with Muffet still sitting next to her without talking. That minx probaby guessed what was going on inside her friend's head and gave her the time she needed. She understands, Frisk realised. What am I thinking? She supports and encourages the heck outta me. Suddenly, she felt her lips move, and before she knew hit, Frisk said: „You were right."

„About what?"

She took a deep breath before replying. „I'm sorry I never told you... I guess it's something that I didn't want to bother you with. But you... were right about Asriel."

A part of her expected Muffet to shout „I knew it!" triumphantly, but she did no such thing. Instead, she took hold of her hand and said: „Did you really think you could hide that from me, F? I saw the way you look at him, I heard how you guys talk to each other, and I know how badly you want him to come over for tea just once..." The monster was smiling. „The question is: what are you gonna do about it?"

„What do you mean? Nothing," said Frisk as she sat back up and looked into her friend's face. „That's why I didn't want anyone to know... there's nothing to be done about it."

Muffet's hand withdrew. „Dearie, sometimes you're being silly. Do you really want to just lie here and don't do anything?"

„I don't know," Frisk moaned. „You and Enic, you just... happened, you know? You looked at each other, you talked, you danced, and boom, you're dating! But it doesn't work like that for everyone."

„It could, if you wanted. You only shouldn't be so afraid and overthinking. Me and Enic would've never happened if we stopped and think that we might be rejected."

„I don't wanna get hurt, Muf. And... I don't wanna hurt Asriel, either. If things go bad, he might never want to talk to me again, and... I know how he is, he might blame himself for not being able to like me that much."

„Don't make me punch you, dearie! He's a good guy, he cares about everyone. He doesn't say, but I know he does. And he cares about you too, maybe more than you allow yourself to think. He wouldn't want to lose you over such thing."

„You think so?" Frisk felt her eyes start to water, and promptly ordered her tears to go back inside. She absolutely did not want to cry. She doesn't need to cry. She's fine.

Muffet got up, kneeled in front of her friend by the bed and laid her upper arms on Frisk's knees. „Listen: everything is going to be alright. I'll always be here for you, and we can overcome anything we want, you get it? Now, what do you really think about Asriel rejecting you? And before you reply, please think about it. I need you to think straight."

First thing she wanted to say was, of course, that he couldn't possibly love a girl like her. But when she thought about it really, really hard... she realised how stupid she's acting. It wasn't that she thought Asriel actually liked her more than a friend – she didn't know anything. All that he said or did could be taken either as an act of friendship, or of something above that. Perhaps that was the worst part – she couldn't be sure. She needed to get proof of either of those things.

„You know, he just wrote me yesterday," Frisk said after a while. „He said that... it was great to play pool with me and that he wants to see me again soon."

„There you go!" Muffet exclaimed. „What did you say?"

„Well... I told him that I had fun as well and that I'd be glad. So, you know, the truth," she replied and finally smiled again. „Then we kinda agreed to go out on Wednesday, we didn't talk about the details yet."

„That sounds great! Just be yourself and he'll have to love you. And if not, he doesn't deserve you at all," said Muffet, half jokingly.

Frisk was relieved and grateful that she told her spider friend about this. „Thank you, you're the best sister," she said, and felt the tears trying to break free again. She wiped her eyes with her wrists. „Dammit, I just caught something in my eye."


	7. I Know A Shortcut

**CHAPTER VI: I Know A Shortcut**

It was that kind of soggy weather that finds a way through all and every possible layer of clothing that stands between it and your body. Asriel was wishing it was possible to only wear a T-shirt, but that wouldn't protect him from cold. So instead, a part of him was hoping that he and Frisk would finish soon, go home and not get out until the weather is friendlier again. However, that could not overwhelm his desire to hang out with the girl.

He felt more nervous than usual, which was weird. Asriel had spent much time with Frisk up to this point, but somehow, this felt different. Perhaps it was simply the fact that he explicitely asked her out this time – in a way that did not reveal his true intentions, but still. He declared to himself that he's no longer contented with the role of a friend, and he was hoping that little by little, he could convince Frisk to see him as something above that. The problem was, of course, he didn't know how to do that. Asriel was counting on his everyday personality; in translation, he intended to just act natural. Pretending to be someone else, even if a better person, wouldn't be fair nor easy. Plus, he wanted Frisk to fall in love with **him** , not somebody he's not.

Sometimes, Asriel wondered if other people, too, wasted as much of their brain capacity as himself on every little problem that they encountered. He couldn't help but always wonder about what was, could be or could have been. It wasn't exactly being pessimistic, but rather possessing a wild imagination that was making him unsure of what he could actually expect to happen. It felt like writing a script for TV series, so distant from the reality that he only subconsciously percieved as superior. Perhaps this was a heritage of his mother who was known for worrying too much.

Let's move on with the story, Asriel thought as he let the real world approach him again. He was outside of the school, leaning to the wall, with both hands in his pockets. A rich variety of students have been passing by, but close to zero of them were paying attention to him. Ever so enthusiastic monster kid, who everyone called by his nickname Kid for so long that Asriel actually forgot his real name, showed up and said "Hi" to him. Apart from that, he felt like a ghost – and he was kind of grateful for that, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention towards himself.

And finally, Frisk's face emerged from a small group of students passing through the entrance. She looked lovely today – well, she looks lovely **every** day, Asriel thought to himself. She wore regular clothes, a pair of tight dark blue jeans and a light grey hoodie; but something about her just seemed too cute to describe. Perhaps it was the way she arranged her hair with a plain pink hairpin. Or maybe just the way she looked at him and immediately put on a cheerful smile.

Asriel smiled back. "Hey," he said. His voice felt like shaking nervously, but he somehow managed to make it sound normal.

"Hi," she said back as she approached him. She looked into his eye briefly before turning her face down to the ground. "So... how are you?"

"Good, I guess..." Asriel replied, suppressing a sudden urge to screw up by saying _'Good, now that I see you.'_ "How's your day?"

"Not bad, but I feel drained after that Physics test," she sighed.

"How long did you end up preparing for it?" he asked. Frisk wrote good night to him last evening explaining that she needs to go study for said test.

"Well I went to bed at about... midnight?" She laughed at her own misery. "Aaand I don't think it helped, either."

"Come on, I'm sure you did fine," Asriel responded quickly.

"Thanks, but nope," she smiled at him. "So... what do you wanna do now?"

"I was hoping we could just go for a walk, but... I'm not really enjoying the weather today."

"Yeah, it's a mess... But I still kinda wanna walk around for a bit, it helps me relax after, you know, catastrophic Physics tests." Frisk seemed to have a wide grin carved into her face constantly. It fascinated him.

"How about this, then: we could go down to the park first, and when we see a nice place to sit, we stop there, ok?" he proposed.

"Sounds good."

"Good."

"Shall we go, then?"

"Yep."

And so they turned and walked slowly side by side. It turned out that Asriel had no reason to be nervous – once he and Frisk started talking, maintaining the conversation felt like the most natural thing. That also meant that he had to stop thinking about everything he was about to do or say. This was Asriel as he truly was, taking off the mask he put on in front of everyone else.

Soon, they arrived at the park. It probably had a name of it's own, but noone was using it – it was simply "the park" for everyone. It wasn't exactly huge, but it had everything that one could wish for in a park: a green field of grass with a small lake in the middle, a tree companionship that could be considered a forest by a 6-year-old, and a playground that Frisk and Asriel were just passing. Normally, there were at least ten children playing and running around, with a few occasional worried glimpses from their mothers; but on this afternoon, nobody was around. The weather probably had a say in it.

"You know, I can't remember the last time I went to a playground," said Frisk distantly, looking at the pair of swings hanging down from a single metal pole.

"Yeah, me neither," Asriel agreed with her. "Seems like it's a long time since we were kids."

"It's strange to think about it, isn't it? It's actually not too long," said Frisk as she stopped and softly placed her hand at the playground's cold fence. "Asriel... when do you think childhood ends?"

"I don't know," he said. "I guess... when you're ten or eleven."

"But why then?"

"Well, perhaps there's just a lot more to do, you know? The school becomes robbing you of more of your time, and with each day, you forget a little more about playing with toys and... having no care in the world."

Asriel looked at Frisk. She kept staring in the playground's direction, but he could see her eyes lost somewhere in the distance, far beyond the reach of the physical reality. When she opened her mouth and spoke, her voice felt like it was coming from the very place that she was looking at.

"Isn't that a bit unfair? Why should playing with toys and not giving a damn be only children's privilege?" She turned her face and looked at him. "Can't you go on a carousel without being judged just because you're a few years older?"

"That doesn't mean we don't know how to have fun anymore. We just do it differently," he replied.

"What is fun, anyway?" Frisk asked.

"To me, or generally?"

"How would you describe it?"

Asriel thought about it for a few seconds. "I think... when you're having fun, you're doing what makes you happy, you forget about what troubles you and you stop caring about what others think of you." And so seeing you counts as well, he added in his head.

Frisk turned her whole body towards him, smiling faintly. "So perhaps when you're having fun, you remind yourself of what it's like to be a child?" Without waiting for the answer, she started moving towards the playground's entrance. "Come on, I wanna go on a swing!"

Asriel followed her. "I'm still not convinced enough to join you, though."

She chuckled and turned at him, taking the few following steps towards the swings backwards. "We'll see about that!"

He had to admit that Frisk had a point. What makes a difference between "fun for young" and "fun for old"? Only that the older you are, the more it's expected of you to behave reasonably. It's not fit for an adult to grab a plushie and pretend it's alive. That's why, for example, teenage kids who are almost desperate to look mature consider themselves too cool for what they think are children's activities. A lot of Asriel's classmates have already drank alcohol (him being no exception), smoked and did... other things that were, technically, forbidden until certain age. Maybe some of them just liked the feeling of doing what they're not supposed to do, but it seemed like the desire to appear adult was the major reason. Being a kid wasn't cool, and nobody didn't want to be uncool.

But then, what was the big rush? Perhaps one day, when they're all actual adults, they'll continue wanting to appear older... Or maybe, they'll look back and understand that they could have remained children a bit longer.

"You coming or what?" Asriel heard Frisk shout at him, and snapped back into reality as he saw her sitting on a swing, starting to move back and forth impatiently on her feet.

"How about I just swing you instead?" he replied, approaching the pair of swings.

"Fine, but make it good!"

Asriel stopped behind Frisk and grabbed the chains tying the seat with the metal pole above them. "Do you have your barf bag with you?"

She laughed. "If I get sick, I'll throw up in your backpak. It will be your fault, anyway."

"Good luck with that, it's still on me. You'll have to catch me first." Asriel took a few steps back before releasing the swing. It slowly reached the opposite side before stopping in mid-air and turning back.

"Is this the fastest you can make this go?" Frisk taunted him

"I'm just worried you might not handle it." He let her back gently approach his hands before pushing Frisk forward with force.

"That's so sweet that you care about your backpack so much!"

"Of course! It means the world to me, why do you think I bring it with me to school?"

"Seems like you guys have something special going on."

"Yeah, I mean, it always has my back."

This went on for a while, and the higher the seat with Frisk went, the dumber the conversation between her and Asriel was. That was the exact reason he liked her so much – he could afford to be stupid around her. Not only she didn't judge him for what he said, she always joined him with an equally twisted mind.

"Um, Asriel?" Frisk said after a minute of swinging rapidly, pretending to sound worried. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I might wanna use your backpack buddy."

"Too late, you got what you wanted!" Asriel pushed her away again with no less force than before.

"Please stop?"

He sighed. "Fine." As the swing came back to him again, he snatched at the seat and held it in the air. Frisk's feet were now dangling about 2 feet above the ground.

"Dude, seriously?" She looked back at him. Her eyes were sparkling playfully. He couldn't help but smile lovingly.

"I'm just kidding, off you go!" he exclaimed as he let go of the swing. He turned and walked away right after that, pretending that he's lost all interest in Frisk. When she noticed, she stopped the swing with her legs. "Just you wait!" she shouted as she got up quickly and started to chase after Asriel. The two of them ran around the playground until he decided to suddenly stop and let her get close.

"What do you want to do to me?" he asked.

Frisk stopped and gave him a menacing look. "You make me sick, Asriel. So I demand your backpack!"

"Over my dead body!" Asriel took a step forward and reached for the girl. She squeaked as she realised she suddenly turned from the hunter to the hunted. But before she could run away, he stood right next to her and started tickling her. Frisk let out a high pitched laugh and tried to fight back, but Asriel was careful enough to not let her hands touch him.

"I hate yo-o-o-u," she giggled incoherently.

"And I hate you too," he replied and proceeded without mercy. But she somehow managed to slip away and take off for the monkey bars. They were in shape of a hemisphere so it was no problem for Frisk to climb up quickly. Then she turned at Asriel who just stood below her with his arms crossed.

"I surrender!" she shouted. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, backpack."

"That's fine, he never cared much about feelings," Asriel replied to her and stretched out his hand towards Frisk. "Come, let's get you down."

She climbed a few bars down before catching hold of the hand and jumping to the ground – where she stumbled and had to lean on Asriel to regain balance. The two were suddenly in a tight embrace.

Asriel closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of Frisk's body in his arms. Her head was lying on his chest; he felt her hair tickle him lightly on his right cheek. She was breathing heavily after the fight they had. He could almost feel her rapid heartbeat. Suddenly, everything seemed... perfect. Happy.

It took them a good couple of seconds before they let go of each other. Asriel looked Frisk in the eye and said: "Maybe we're still children after all."

She chuckled. "And you're complaining?"

"No, but I'm glad nobody saw us. I don't know who'd they call on us, the cops or an ambulance."

"Well," sighed Frisk, "that exhausted me. I could really use some tea right now, how about you?"

"Yeah, me too. I know a place not far from here, it's called Coffee Garden. It's literally a coffee place with a garden."

"Sounds good to me," she laughed again. Asriel stepped out the playground's entrance, looked back on Frisk who was following him, and waved his left hand to show her the direction. "Over here, I know a shortcut," he said.


	8. Do You Wanna Have A Bad Time?

CHAPTER VII: Do You Wanna Have A Bad Time?

November came with a couple of surprisingly sunny days. It seemed that Autumn found a box labeled "Sunshine" that Summer left behind and decided to turn it upside down, letting all that was left inside fall down into the world. Obviously, the weather was still cold, but at least the fogs and rain were taking a break for the moment.

Most of the time, Frisk didn't like it when people took pictures of her. Without a considerable amount of exceptions, she couldn't look at her own face without being convinced that she looks either ugly, silly, or both. On the other hand, when Asriel brought her into the woods the other day, he was somewhat passionate about photography and insisted that she's stunning and that he needs her to be present in more of the pictures he took. It concluded in a compromise: out of about fifty pictures taken that day, she only appeared on four of them. Truth be told, she liked them all.

Asriel told her things that she was never payig attention to before: that each of the four seasons has its own colour. In Spring, the air has a light, purple-ish undertone; Summer is the season of heavy orange colour; Autumn makes the light seem a bit sharper with a trace of yellow; and in Winter, everything looks blue and turqoise. "Try comparing pictures of the same spot taken at different times," he told her. "You'll notice that every season, every month, every moment has its own mood. It really feels like the world around us is alive, don't you think?"

Frisk loved the fact that Asriel was such an admirer of nature. It was one of the proofs that he was romantic down to the bone. Some girls might not be attracted by daydreamers, but she thought it was really sweet. He was trying hard to hide it from the world, pretending to be a cool dude, apathetic towards all around him and never showing what he feels. She thought it was cute – which he hated to hear about himself – because once she was able to see through the illusion, Frisk found all of his efforts to be someone else pretty miserable. It seemed as if Asriel knew that she can truly read him: when the two were alone, he managed to stop playing games and just be himself.

That's what was special about the photographic trip to the woods. For his friends, Asriel was a contemplative poetic soul who tries to display his emotions through photography because he doesn't want to talk about his feelings. All that Frisk saw when she was looking at all those pictures was a work of someone who simply likes to see, hear, taste, feel the world around him. That, and all the memories that she had of that amazingly spent afternoon.

She and Asriel were seeing each other for about a month now and everything was great. He slowly became the most important person in her life. Frisk was getting anxious when she hasn't talked to him for more than 12 hours. It was a bit scary and she knew it, but it was a good kind of scary. Needless to say, it would definitely be less frustrating if she could be sure about what Asriel actually thought about her. She sensed that he might want to be more than friends, but, as always... Every signal could be interpreted either way.

Muffet wasn't helping too much, either. She was equally affectionate about Enic, while he felt the same way about her – an advantage that Frisk didn't have. It was hard to avoid talking about him when the girls were alone; and since Muffet was her best friend and quite nosy at the same time, Asriel was the second most favourite topic. Well, Muffet's, anyway.

Frisk's spider sister even reduced the number of her tea parties to be able spend more time with her boyfriend. Although a little jealous, Frisk was happy for her. Frankly, Enic seemed like just the perfect guy for Muffet. He liked to cook, loved 19th century English literature, and he was actually involved with a group that was trying to save rainforests in South America, claiming – aside from other things – that there are several different kinds of spiders that wouldn't survive without the forests. Funny thing was, the two were already starting plans for a trip to those forests together. They were very serious about it.

Frisk sighed as she tried to clear her mind. She wasn't heading to Muffet's since the monster was at Enic's place for the afternoon; and she wasn't with Asriel who had to work on a Biology project that was due tomorrow. School was over and she didn't want to go home yet, either, so she found herself just wondering around the mall, peeking inside clothes shops and thinking about buying herself an ice cream for the evening.

All of a sudden, Frisk's attention was drawn towards a conspicuously tall person in the crowd. As her eyes focused on the pale bald head that seemed to be floating above everybody around, she realised she was wrong. The head was neither pale nor bald – it was a skull. Frisk walked rapidly towards the figure; there was no doubt who it was. After all, she only knew two guys with an exoskeleton, and only one of them was this tall.

A few seconds later, she approached him with a wide grin. He was facing the other way, so she had to softly tap on his forearm and say: "Hey, Papyrus!"

The skeleton turned around. This movement revealed another person standing in front of him – and Frisk immediately recognised her as well. "Oh, hi, Alphys!" she exclaimed, reaching out for a hug. Alphys hopped forward right into her arms. Frisk knew Papyrus didn't mind that she greeted the scientist in a warmer way than him; he really wasn't a hugger.

"H-hi, Frisk!" said Alphys before releasing her, while Papyrus declared in his penetrative voice: "HELLO, FRISK! WHAT BUSINESS BRINGS YOU HERE?"

Come to think about it, the two of them could not have been more contrasting with one another. Papyrus was taller than most humans by a huge margin, skinny, extraordinarily dressed, and his self-confidence was off the charts. Alphys, on the other hand, was short and chubby and always pretended she's not even there. It was a little strange to see the two of them hang out together.

"Not much," Frisk answered the skeleton's question. "I'm just walking around before I have to go home... What are you two doing here?"

"WELL," said Papyrus, "ALPHYS IS ON A SUPER SECRET MISSION THAT NOBODY CAN KNOW ABOUT! SHE HAS TO GET A BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR A FRIEND!"

"P-please, Papyrus..." Alphys nudged him with her elbow. "If you tell everyone that we meet, it won't be a secret any longer."

"BUT HOW ELSE WILL EVERYBODY KNOW THAT I AM HELPING WITH AN IMPORTANT QUEST?"

"You can t-tell them later, ok? A-after the party," she stuttered.

Frisk was amused. She turned towards Alphys and winked. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Who is it for, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't think you know her. She's a friend of Undyne's and she's throwing a birthday party and Undyne said that I should come with her." Alphys sighed. "B-but that's the problem... I've only seen her twice, so I don't know w-what to get her."

"AND THAT IS WHERE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, COME ON THE SCENE!" the skeleton proclaimed proudly. "ALPHYS MENTIONED THAT SHE HAS PROBLEMS THINKING ABOUT A PROPER GIFT, AND I DON'T LIKE PROBLEMS! SO I'M HERE TO GET RID OF THEM!"

"No offence, Papyrus," said Frisk carefully. "I'm sure you'll do a great job, but, Alphys, why didn't you ask Undyne? She's the one that knows her."

"Yeah, b-but the party is tomorrow and we likely won't see each other until then, so... I have to rely on Papyrus."

"AND IT'S THE BEST DECISION YOU'VE EVER MADE!" Papyrus added.

"Bro," Frisk looked at him; "you sound really confident, but have you actually come up with anything?"

Papyrus's heroic stance cooled down a little bit. "WELL," he said, "TECHNICALLY I HAVE NO IDEA..." Then his spine straightened back again. "BUT! I FIGURED, IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO GET, THEN I CAN GET LITERALLY ANYTHING! AND WHAT'S THE BEST PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GET LITERALLY ANYTHING?" He looked around the mall instead of answering the question and cackled.

"What Papyrus is trying to say is that we're k-kind of just looking around and waiting for something to d-draw our attention," Alphys explained, and the skeleton nodded hecticly. "Plus, I'm glad we get the chance to meet, it's been months since we saw each other."

"Tell me about that, I haven't seen you guys in forever!" said Frisk.

"Hey, that reminds me!" Alphys suddenly put on an excited face. "Guess who's coming home for Christmas?"

At first second, Frisk had no idea. But once she really thought about it, there were not a lot of people that came to mind. She asked in a slightly surprised voice: "You're not talking about Mettaton, do you?"

Mettaton has been really busy for the entire year – shooting TV shows and at least one movie, plus touring with his show. He kept visiting the town every once in a while, but he barely ever did so on a special occasion, other than his own tour.

"You bet I am!" Alphys confirmed. "He called me on Monday, he said he'll play the year's last show in here and then he's taking a break for the rest of the holidays!"

"Wow!" Frisk shouted; "That's awesome!"

Not only did that mean they'll get the chance to hang out with Mettaton himself, but also Shyren, Blooky and a couple of other friends – obviously, when the robot star was working at 100%, his entire ensemble had to work twice as hard, making it impossible for anyone to get a time off and come visit. Good for Burgerpants that he decided to finally quit. He did so at the end of the last year's season, and even though it's been rough for a couple of weeks, he now looked a lot younger than before.

"And you know what the best part is?" Alphys continued. "I was going to t-tell you later, but... Me and Undyne were promised VIP entrance for free, that means we can be backstage for the entire show!"

"Really? How'd that happen?" Frisk asked.

The scientist fired a machine gun of words: "Well Mettaton called and said that I can spend the show backstage and meet up with everyone and I told him that I want to bring Undyne with me and he was hesitant at first but then he was like 'I can't tear you from your girlfriend' so now we're both going... so... yeah." She took a breath and added: "And he also s-said that as the hero of monsters and his ultimate friend, or something, y-you can come as well!"

Frisk was stunned. "Oh, man! That's awesome!"

"AH, YES! BUT IF ONLY METTATON KNEW WHO I AM, HE WOULD LET ME BE THE GREATEST VIP OF ALL!" Papyrus looked a bit disappointed. "HOW COME I, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD*, EQUALLY AS AWESOME, WASN'T INVITED?"

*The royal guard would have been disbanded a long time ago, but Papyrus kept complaining about it. Eventually, he became the only member, and he was basically employed as Asgore's assistant.

"I-I might ask him when we speak again," Alphys assured him, her eyes looking at Frisk and calling for help.

Frisk laughed. "Actually, Alphy, do you think it would be a problem if you asked our star for one more free ticket? I would like to bring a guest as well."

"REALLY? WOWIE!" Papyrus blushed.

"Sorry, bro, I had someone else in mind..." she said apologeticly. The skeleton looked at her questioningly, so before he could respond, Frisk quickly added: "It's just... the other person really, really deserves to see Mettaton. But don't worry, we know you're the best!"

"AH, YES, THAT IS WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!" He seemed contented.

"Y-yes, Papyrus, you're a-awesome!" Alphys felt she needed to keep saving the situation. "Really, I'm sure w-we'll find the best present together."

"OH!" Papyrus suddenly remembered why he was there I the first place. "RIGHT, THE PRESENT! WE'VE BEEN STANDING AROUND FOR TOO LONG, WE SHOULD REALLY CONTINUE WITH OUR QUEST! NYEH HEH HEH," he laughed again as he turned around and rushed into the distance, leaving the two girls behind in surprise.

"Well, t-that's not what I was going for, but..." Alphys looked relieved that she didn't have to keep convincing the skeleton that she liked him. "Seriously though, I think it will be fine, I know how to talk to Mettaton." She looked at Frisk. "S-so, who do you want to bring?"

"I don't know," Frisk said in a deliberately casual tone. "I was thinking, maybe Asriel."

In reality, there were no second thoughts. She knew he probably wouldn't have liked to sit with the rest of the audience and watch like normal people – he wasn't a fan of crowds, and he knew Mettaton's show well so he couldn't have been surprised by anything. On the other hand, he'd die for the opportunity to meet all the other artists and talk to them for a while. Frisk figured that she'd really make Asriel happy with this. It should go without saying that in consequence, that would make her happy, too.

"Oh, ok," said Alphys. "Well, I'll mention it when we talk, but... I-I'm sorry, I should really go after Papyrus before he buys something stupid."

"Cut him some slack, he's doing his best," said Frisk with a smile.

"Yes, that's exactly what I fear." They both laughed it off.

"Well, see you! I'll call!" And Alphys walked away fast, looking for the skeleton.

Frisk then took out her phone and called Asriel. She immediately felt the sort of pleasant nervous movement inside her stomach – it often came when she knew she's going to hear his voice again. I might be going crazy, she thought.

"Hello?" Asriel picked up the phone.

"Hi, Asriel! How's the project going?"

"Oh, hi!" Frisk could literally feel his smile through the speaker. "Not great, but I'm gonna make it in time."

"Good luck with that," she replied, and asked playfully: "So, listen... Do you wanna have a bad time?"


	9. Don't Hold Anything Back

**CHAPTER VIII: Don't Hold Anything Back**

"...so, yeah, that's what's happening."

"Wow, that does sound cool," said Polo. "Mettaton rocks, buddy... but then, so does Frisk, it seems."

"You have no idea," Asriel replied before taking a sip from the bottle. The two of them were at Polo's place, a tiny apartment that had barely enough room to contain him, his parents and little sister. At least Throben was living with his grandpa; Polo once told his friend that by the time Mesone was born, the eldest brother had to sleep on the couch for two years before going to the university. He also occasionally mentioned that he was getting really homesick as well, and he intended to move out the minute that he'd finished high school.

The good thing was that his family lived almost right next to the school, and he and a couple of his friends, including Asriel, often used that fact on Tuesday when Polo's class had an hour long break before afternoon classes. Since his parents were at work and Mesone at pre-school, it was a good time to bring a few people in and... Well, the days when they used to finish a bottle of cheap whiskey in thirty minutes and then go back to school were gone forever when the teachers noticed they were acting weird and caused them a lot of trouble; but the tradition sustained, even though they knew their boundaries now.

Therefore, it is possible to say that as usual, the boys only had a bottle of beer each. There were only Polo and Asriel that day. The monster was just telling his friend about a phone call that he and Frisk had last week.

"You know me," he said after he put the bottle down again. "I don't care about things that people think are fun. I never watch TV, I don't go to theatre or cinema, and I hardly ever see any concerts."

"Yeah, if I didn't know you that long, I'd say you're a morose jerk," Polo added with a grin.

"I just don't like... usual things, you know?" Asriel was slowly becoming lost in his thoughts. "I'm always looking for something more. Like, all the stories that we see in the movies are the same – a douche meets another douche, they go on a quest, then someone screws up and eventually learns from their mistakes and wins everything, roll credits. I've seen that a million times."

"Dude, that's not how it works."

"Really?" Asriel looked at his friend. "Think about every movie you saw this year. Sure, they weren't all so predictable, and I did watch a couple of those that had an interesting plot. But that's the point, you know? I like when people think outside the box. I'm just looking for something special, is all I'm saying."

"You don't have to tell me, brother," said Polo. It was rather rare to see him get actually interested in a serious conversation. "I noticed that's the way you see people as well."

"You think so?"

"Sure thing! You're not some kind of regular goof who goes around and talks about small things. You always find what's best and unique in people. You make everyone around you feel special."

The monster was just looking at his friend for a brief moment. Polo, he thought, might have understood even better than himself. Indeed, Asriel could only enjoy talking to people who were in any way different than the others. That's why he usually had trouble speaking with strangers or people he hardly knew – it took him some time to get to know someone well enough to feel like he knew their personality. Polo just suggested that the people that Asriel "chooses" to be friends with were not aware of being special until he told them. But that was how he treated everyone – he always aimed to let people that were dear to him know how important they were in his life.

"I guess you could say that," he finally said. "But I think all it takes is to be honest with your feelings. Not trying to sound girly, but it's true."

"Certainly worked for you and Frisk, it seems." Polo said that so casually that it took Asriel a second to realise what he just heard.

"Yeah... Wait, what?"

"What do you mean, 'what?' Aren't you two a couple?"

"Where'd you get **that** idea?" A hundred of thoughts immediately errupted inside Asriel's head. Were people aware of him and Frisk spending a lot of time together? Did Polo just see the affection he so desperately tried to hide from the rest of the world? Or did he simply know something that the monster hasn't? Perhaps Frisk encountered Polo already and confessed about her feelings, hoping to learn if he, Asriel, feels the same way. Or maybe everybody in the school knew, and he was too blind and stupid to see that...

This all happened within a single heartbeat. Asriel was somewhat good at keeping his thoughts and feelings locked inside where nobody could reach them, so he was able to hide the chaos that Polo's innocent suggestion started in his brain.

"Come on, As!" The human looked at him. "Haven't you noticed that you two happen to do everything together? You're with her almost every day, and you're telling me stories about how awesome she is every time we're hanging out. That does sound pretty suspicious to me, to say the least." Polo scratched his head and gave his friend a slightly embarrassed look. "Sorry, you know I wouldn't have brought that up if someone else was here."

"Well, you're wrong. Frisk and I are not a couple," Asriel said resolutely. But those words actually hurt when he said them out loud, probably because they were the exact opposite of what his heart wished for. Plus, he thought, he did owe Polo a bit of honesty – he's been nothing but supportive to him, and he seemed like he really wants him and Frisk to be together. So he gathered strength in expectation of being asked a ton of personal questions and added: "I wish we were."

"Oh," was all that Polo said to his confession. A brief moment of silence spread across the room like a heavy blanket. Asriel was pleasantly surprised; a part of him was expecting his friend to jump up in the air, screaming: "I knew it!" But he did no such thing, and the monster realised how silly it was to even think that. Surely no one ever imagined things like he did.

"It's complicated, then," his friend asked after a while. "So, what's the deal with the two of you, anyway?"

"Not much," Asriel sighed. "It's an old story, I... like her, and I'm not sure she likes me the same way."

"So what, you're expecting her to give you a formal declaration? If you want to be with her, you just tell her!"

"It's not that simple, man... I don't wanna screw up what we have right now."

"Which is what, exactly?"

Good question, Asriel said to himself, and took another sip of beer as an excuse for not answering right away. What was it that he and Frisk had? He was so busy keeping her around for the past month that he never properly stopped to look at the situation from the outside.

He could say that this last month was probably the happiest in his life. Spending basically all of his free time with the girl filled him with ridiculous amount of joy, fun and... maybe even love? It's a little tricky to use that word today. There are people who tell you that you're only allowed to "love" someone if you're super serious about spending the rest of your life with that person; and there are, on contrary, people who use that word to refer to every friend they've made so far, stripping it of its former meaning. To Asriel, it meant simply the fact that there's someone in his life who completely occupies his head. A torment that is also the most beautiful thing in the world.

But the truth was that he didn't know that until Frisk unwillingly wrote that definition into his brain dictionary. Every time he saw her smile, made her laugh, felt her warm body curled in his arms, unable to let go and say goodbye... Each time she said exactly what he needed to hear at that moment, each time she went out of her way to cheer him up, even presenting him with the tickets for Mettaton's show... Every second they were together, he knew he's falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

No, he wasn't worried about himself – he knew exactly what he wanted, which was to live his entire life and sacrifice his entire world for Frisk's sake. It was the uncertainty and the thought of being rejected that he feared. Asriel was having a time of his life, and he wasn't ready to place it all on an altar for her to decide. Maybe it was a little selfish, but it was safer this way. They could both still benefit from the friendship that they had, without these feelings getting in their way. But... was it really still friendship? It sure as hell wasn't usual for two people to behave like they did around each other. Every second they spent together was in some way special, unlike anything he would have felt with anyone else. If they were to stay just friends, then what they had was even more valuable because of that, and that would make the risks even higher.

Asriel realised he was still sitting in Polo's kitchen right next to him. He could tell by the way his friend was looking at him that he knew what was going through the monster's head. "What do **you** think of all this?" he asked Polo.

"I think you're too afraid to pursue your dream," he replied without missing a beat. "In case you haven't noticed, As... People are not so close to each other when they're just friends. I'm sure Frisk feels the same way about you."

"Well, what if you're wrong?" Asriel was looking at the floor. "I'd rather stay friends with her than... go all in and risk losing everything."

"And what would convince you that this is the way that it's supposed to be? Getting together, I mean."

"Let me tell you, it would be much easier if she told me how she feels."

"...and risked losing your valuable friendship?" Polo added relentlessly. "Ever thought about that?"

Asriel put the bottle to his lips and finished the rest of his beer. "Oh man," he said after placing the empty bottle at the table; it made a hollow, thick sound. "It just can't get any easier, can it?"

"Listen," his friend told him quietly, "you don't have to stand in front of her and say: 'Frisk, I love you, let's be together.' It doesn't work that way." Polo drank his bottle empty as well. "Just next time you see each other, wait for the right moment. Hold her hand, talk about how great she is in your eyes... I don't know, you're a smart guy, you'll figure the timing."

"And when she rejects me? What then?"

"Do you want to regret the things you did, or the things you didn't do?" Polo simply asked.

"I don't want to have to regret anything, to be honest."

"Just listen," his friend placed his hand on his shoulder, making Asriel look at him. "You're great. Frisk knows that. She wouldn't have survived if you were to disappear from her life. So either way, your relationship will become better this way. Either she says no, and then you keep on being her cool friend who makes her happy every day. Or she says yes, and you make out right where you stand."

Asriel laughed – and with that, his good mood has been restored. He still had no idea how to do that, but, dammit, Frisk should be worth a fight. If not, there's no point in loving someone.

Polo glanced at the watch he wore on the hand that he ust withdrew from his friend's shoulder. "Well, guess that's a nice place to stop this conversation." He stood up. "Time to go back to school."

Asriel got up from his chair as well. "Dude, I don't think I can thank you enough..."

"Stop it," Polo said before he could finish. "I'm just returning the favour. You're one of my best friends, and you got me through a lot as well." He grabbed the empty bottles and carried them to the front door where he put them on the floor. Asriel followed him, and the two started to put their shoes and coats on.

"When will you see her, anyway?" Polo asked.

"Friday."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Well it might be interesting..." Asriel thought about how he wanted to say that. "You know how Frisk is almost my step-sister, but not quite?"

"Like she lives with your mother who divorced your dad long ago? Yeah, I know."

"Good. The thing is, mum will be out of town on Friday night, and decided that she doesn't want Frisk to be home alone. So she asked dad to let her stay over until mum's back. Which won't be before Saturday morning."

Polo looked at him. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm saying that Frisk is sleeping over at my place, yeah." Asriel couldn't help but smile. "I swear, mum still thinks she's a little girl. But it's funny, right?"

"Wow, yeah! So... what're you gonna do?"

"Hadn't planned anything, all I know is that nothing... personal is gonna happen."

"I agree, we don't wanna scare her, do we?" said Polo. He opened the front door and beckoned Asriel to go first. "But remember, other than that, don't hold anything back!"


	10. Anything Else

**CHAPTER IX: Anything Else**

It wasn't like Sans and Toriel were going out – after all, there was almost a 30 year difference between them, and neither of them felt the need to get romantically involved with anybody. Sometimes Frisk thought, however, they would have made a great couple in an alternative universe. Sans was a jester who taught her mum to enjoy herself more, pulling her up from her world of constant worrying and caring about others; whereas Toriel was making the skeleton a little more responsible, reasonable and perhaps even sensitive. Long story short, they perfectly balanced each other out, providing for what the other one's soul lacked. So there was no wonder why the two of them were such great friends.

Because of that, nobody raised eyebrows above the fact that Sans invited Toriel to join him on Friday evening. There was a comedy show in the near city – all that Frisk knew was that it was supposedly a famous puppeteer ventriloquist or whatever – and the skeleton convinced her mum to have a night off. This had happened a few times before, and Toriel had always been getting terrible headaches the next day.

Knowing she might not be back until Saturday noon and being worried about her poor little child (sic), Toriel thought it would be best to let Asgore take care after Frisk for the night. She only argued with mum for a little while because she felt she needed to protect her dignity; but one: she was actually looking forward to it, and two: she knew Toriel will not change her mind. They had a silent agreement that once Frisk turns eighteen, her mum will admit she's old enough to handle herself on her own, but until then, Toriel's word was law.

"Are you sure you've got everything with you?" she asked for a hundredth time as she and Frisk were approaching the house where Asgore and his son lived. Frisk rolled her eyes and adjusted the small sport back on her shoulder a little bit.

"My cell phone, charger, pyjamas, spare underwear, spare shirt, my keys, hair brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and an overly attached mother. Seems like I've got pretty much everything."

Toriel knew Frisk's sharp tongue was just a play, so she ignored the insult. "How about your make-up?" she asked instead.

"I told you, mum – I won't be needing it tomorrow. It's only about a fifteen minute walk home, and Asriel has seen my face a few times, so he'll live through another morning, right?" The truth was that in the rush with which Toriel was pulling her out the door back home, Frisk had simply forgotten, but she wasn't going to admit that. What she said was half true; of course she wanted to look pretty – especially when Asriel was around – but putting on the usual make-up in the morning just to walk the short distance back home did not seem worth the effort.

Toriel opened the front door and let Frisk come through first. She had spare keys to Asgore's apartment, just in case something happened. Even though she had never completely forgiven him for what he did back in the underground and showed no interest in reinstalling her old feelings, Toriel and her ex-husband were on moderately friendly terms. They weren't seeing each other if there wasn't need for it, but they were able to speak a few words without any awkward feelings getting in the way.

"Remember, be a good child, Frisk, and take care of yourself," the goat mum said as they ascended up the stairs.

"Right, 'cause I never take care of myself unless you tell me to."

"I know, I know... I'm sorry." Toriel realised she's being too concerned. "Just you wait, when you have kids, you'll understand." They reached for Asgore's door, and she knocked.

"Oh no, I'm feeling bad for them already," Frisk said with a grin. They heard a muffled "On my way!" from the other side, and then a few seconds of large feet stomping on a wooden floor.

The door opened with Asgore's bushy face smiling from behind them. "Good afternoon, ladies! Come in!"

"Hello, Asgore," said Toriel in response as she and her daughter proceeded forward; Frisk gave him a short hug. "I'm afraid I have to leave immediately, I'm supposed to meet Sans in a few minutes."

"Oh." Asgore seemed a bit disappointed. "Okay... I'm not going to offer you tea, then." He turned to Frisk. "Tea?"

"Thank you," she said, but she was already looking behind his back where she saw Asriel walking down the stairs, looking at the trio in the hall. She has never been in the apartment before, so it came to her as a surprise that it had a second floor above. She guessed that's probably where the bedrooms were.

Toriel noticed where Frisk was looking and turned her head in that direction. "Hello, Asriel," she greeted her son as she took a few steps and clenched him in her arms; he reluctantly hugged her back. "Hi, mum... Hi, Frisk," was all that he said.

"How are you doing? I haven't heard from you the entire month... again," Toriel told him accusingly as she let go of him.

"I'm fine, I guess... Nothing has changed," Asriel told her. Frisk noticed he briefly glanced at her as he spoke, but his eyes quickly turned back at his mother. "I'd have let you know if something would, you know that."

"Well, no news is good news, I guess," she said, and then she turned back to her daughter and Asgore who were waiting patiently. Toriel always had an unwitting aura of the most authoritative person in the room, wherever she was. "I'm really sorry to leave so soon, but I can't let Sans wait too long."

Toriel then approached Frisk and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Be good, alright?"

"I will," she nodded as she ostentatiously rubbed the cheek with the back of her hand. "Tell Sans I said hi, will you?"

"Of course," said Toriel. Then she looked around the room for the last time. "Have a nice day, you all!"

"See you!" said Asriel, while Asgore replied with "Have fun, Tori!"

As the door shut behind her, Frisk felt a hand softly tap on her shoulder. Well, maybe it was supposed to be a tap, but it turned into a brief caress all the way to her elbow. She turned and smiled right into Asriel's face.

"Can I take your bag?" he asked.

"It's okay, thanks," she said. "I still don't know where I'll sleep anyway... Maybe on that big couch right there?" Frisk pointed at the huge black sofa which she only just noticed. It looked so fluffy and comfy that it almost made her instantly feel pleasantly sleepy.

"Oh, I don't want to let you sleep on the couch," said Asgore who seemed to have been lost in his thought for the last few seconds. "You'll just sleep in my bed upstairs, and I'll take the couch, alright?"

"Come on, Asgore, you don't have to-" Frisk was about to politely disagree with him, but her sentence was interrupted halfway through as they heard another knock on the door.

"Hm? Could Tori have forgotten something?" Asgore wondered, and he opened. The three of them found Sans standing in the hallway with his hands deep in his pockets with a lazy, disconcerned smile. Papyrus was standing behind him; even though he was a lot taller, he somehow managed to appear hidden behind his brother.

"heya, asgore," said Sans. "i heard you're babysittin' tonight?"

"Well..." he stuttered, "yes, but..."

"oh, that's right, i forgot to tell you beforehand... my bad," Sans winked at him. "thing is, i don't wanna let papyrus stay alone over night. would you mind if he stayed with you guys? he doesn't take up much space."

Frisk had to hold herself back from giggling. This was so much like Sans, to pop in unannounced and ruin the day. Judging from how Asriel turned away and began scratching the back of his head, covering his face with his elbow during the process, it looked like he was pretty amused as well.

"Um..." said Asgore, slowly pulling himself together again "Sure, Sans, if it helps..."

"OH-HO, YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY!" Papyrus stepped forward. "I HAVE THE SKILLS TO ENTERTAIN YOU FOR THE WHOLE EVENING, AND I WILL NOT SNORE AT NIGHT!"

"Okay... I'm not saying we're displeased, but..." Asgore frowned only a little bit. "Next time let me know before you show up, Sans."

"sure, asgore, thanks a lot," the skeleton winked one more time. "welp, i'd better get going. guys," he added, addressing Frisk and Asriel, "take care of the adults, will you?"

"We will," she said, and Sans simply turned around and wondered away, leaving Papyrus eagerly awaiting Asgore's orders – after all, he was his boss. The goat father sighed and closed the door behind Sans; right before it shut, a blue flash could be seen from the corridor, but noone except Frisk seemed to have noticed.

Asgore laughed nervously. "Well then... Looks like my home's become a hostel." He probably meant to make it sound like a joke, but his straight face gave it away. Frisk opened her mouth to comfort him, but Asriel was faster.

"Come on, dad, it's going to be fine," he said. "Don't you always say: more people, more fun?"

"That's true, but I like to know what's going to happen beforehand," Asgore replied. He then turned towards the skeleton. "I'm sorry, Pap, you two just caught me off guard, that's all."

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT SANS FORGOT TO LET YOU KNOW... EVEN THOUGH I TOLD HIM IT'S RUDE," Papyrus declared, evidently displeased with his brother's laziness. "BUT STILL, SINCE YOU'RE KIND ENOUGH TO LET ME STAY, I WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN AS YOUR GUEST!"

"Thank you, I know you won't," said Asgore and smiled wearily. Then he turned around and took off for the kitchen while still talking. "I think this settles it, then... Frisk, you will stay in my room, I will take the couch, and Papyrus will have to stay with Asriel... Is everyone ok with that?"

Frisk only felt a little disappointed that she, by the looks of it, won't be able to sleep in Asriel's room. If Papyrus wasn't here, she could have somehow managed to end up there, but now it was almost out of question – obviously she didn't want to say it out loud, not wanting to complicate things even more for Asgore, and furthermore, it would have seemed a bit too suspicious. She thought there was a reason why he didn't suggest it in the first place – he probably wasn't fond of the idea of Asriel sharing his bedroom with a girl. The fact that Frisk was technically his step-sister didn't seem to make any difference (that he knew of).

Still, it wasn't like she was planning anything for tonight. She wouldn't **reject** it were something to happen, but she knew all too well that it would be silly to expect it, especially from Asriel who she was sure wouldn't do any funny business with a girl that he's not dating – he was too old-fashioned and polite for something like that.

So Frisk knew she had to wait patiently until Asriel has officialy agreed that the two of them are a couple. That is, were it ever to happen at all.

"Gosh darnit," she heard Asgore's voice and snapped back into reality. All the three guys were in the kitchen now; Asriel was standing behind his dad who was apparently looking for something in one of the counters. Meanwhile, Papyrus was just putting a box of spaghetti on the table.

"What's wrong, Asgore? Can I help?" she said as she approached the trio.

"Oh, I was just hoping we'll have a bottle of... something stronger, so to speak," he replied. "But it appears we're all out." He then turned and walked past Frisk, into the living room. "If you're willing to help, ask Papyrus if he needs a hand with the dinner."

"Sweet of you to cook, Pap," Frisk said as she reached the skeleton.

"BUT OF COURSE, IT'S THE LEAST I CAN DO TO RETURN THE FAVOR OF LETTING ME BE HERE!" Papyrus replied with an empty pot in his hand, and added: "ASRIEL, WHERE DO YOU STORE YOUR VEGETABLES?"

"Coming right up, master chef!" Asriel emerged right in front of Frisk who automatically smiled. He opened the fridge next to the door and pretended to search for tomatoes, only so he could quietly tell Frisk: "You know, dad is probably looking for the bottle that me and the guys drank last month." She couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're such an As," she told him. Asriel bared his teeth at her as he grabbed a handful of tomatoes and closed the fridge again. Through the door, Frisk saw his dad standing above an open and hopelessly empty cabinet scratching his head.

Not long after that, the four of them sat around the table in the dining room, each with a plate of the fabled Pap-sta in front of them. The dinner was actually pretty good; it wasn't out of question that was because Frisk and Asriel contributed.

"Well," said Asgore after he finished his plate, "I'm now absolutely convinced it's good to have you here, everyone. Don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them later."

"Thanks, dad, that's very... well, fair, I guess," Asriel smiled at him.

"I only regret we don't have at least a bottle of wine. It would go well with the spaghetti." He looked at Papyrus, then at the younglings. "Pap, would you be kind enough to acompany me for a short walk outside? That is, if you kids are fine with it."

"Of course, we can handle it here," said Asriel. "Where are you going?"

"I said I would like some wine, didn't I? I really feel like it now." Asgore stood up and began to collect everyone's plates. "What do you say, friend?"

"WOWIE, WHAT AN OCCASION!" Papyrus exclaimed. "WORRY NOT, ASGORE, I WILL ACOMPANY YOU ON THIS QUEST!"

"Perfect, thank you, Papyrus," said his boss as he carried the plates back to the kitchen. "Don't worry, guys, we'll just have a glass and we'll be right back."

"Or you could go into the store and bring a whole bottle home? You're leaving us out, you know," Frisk noted.

"Oh, Frisk, even if I wanted to pour you alcohol, you can bet your soul that Toriel **will** find out and kill me," Asgore shouted from the kitchen. Again, his attempt to sound like he's joking failed horribly.

"We're not little kids, Asgore," she shouted back playfully. "I know mum doesn't see that, but at least you could back us up!"

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to go behind Tori's back," said Asgore upon reappearing back in front of everyone. "I promise I won't oppress you any longer than her."

"Are you inviting me for a drink when I'm an adult?"

He laughed. "Maybe..."

Soon, Asgore and Papyrus disappeared behind the door. Frisk suddenly realised she's all alone in the apartment with her love, and her heartbeat accelerated.

"So, there's that..." Asriel said behind her back, and she turned to him. "What do you wanna do now?"

"I don't know... We could watch a movie or something," she proposed. It was the first thing that came into her mind, and while it wasn't the most original thing to suggest, she didn't want to stay silent and think about it for too long.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "I've actually just recently downloaded one that Polo suggested I should definitely watch, but I didn't have the time yet, so... if you'd like to join me, I'll at least have it over with," he added with a grin.

"And what is it?"

"I dunno, it's called Wall Flowers or something, and it's supposed to be really funny and really clever at the same time..." Asriel didn't sound that convinced. "You know I'm not a movie person, but I promised I'll watch it. Plus, I might enjoy it more if I had you beside me."

Frisk felt blood rushing into her face and rather looked at the floor. "Ok, bring it here," she said to send him away, not wanting him to see her embarrassment.

As Asriel rushed up the stairs, she took a few deep breaths. It's going to be fine, she told herself. You've hang out with him a thousand times, it's no big deal.

Muffet was right: Frisk could only have handled the last month during which she and Asriel were basically together all the time when she stopped worrying about little things. Maybe it was about to start to overwhelm her. It's been almost five weeks now, and they haven't moved anywhere. But even though they just couldn't find the opportunity to talk about what it actually was that they had, thus leaving her room for doubts and anxiety, she knew it wouldn't be easy for her to back off now. She was way too deep in this now.

Frisk sighed and promised herself she will find the strength to let Asriel know what she feels as soon as she can. It simply can't go like this forever.

Asriel returned with a burnt dvd in his hand. A couple of minutes later, they found themselves sitting in front of the TV on that comfy sofa and watched as the story of Wall Flowers was about to unfold. At first, Frisk thought she won't be able to concentrate on the movie at all, but it actually sucked her in pretty quickly. It was a great distraction from Asriel up to about an hour through. Then, the main character and the girl of his dreams were sharing a sweet moment, and just like that, her brain immediately reminded her of who's sitting right by her side. Frisk glimpsed at him by a corner of her eye; she didn't realise before how close he was to her. Asriel was looking at the scene, not moving a single muscle – he even appeared to have stopped breathing, like it was somehow making him uncomfortable. Could he be thinking the same thing as her?

They both got through the whole without saying a word. Frisk wanted to say something, but couldn't think of any conversation topics. This wasn't like them, they usually couldn't stop talking when they were together.

Finally, when the closing credits rolled, it felt like they woke up. They looked at each other like on clue.

"Yeah," said Asriel after a while, and they both laughed – the sudden sound of his voice breaking the silence that was between them for the past two hours felt almost inappropriate. "I liked it, how about you?"

"It was great," she replied. "I was not ready for the squirrels, I'll tell you that much."

"Oh man, the squirrels!" he chuckled again. "I hope they won an Oscar for that scene."

"Maybe," said Frisk, and yawned. "I'm a bit tired now... Wow, is it ten thirty already?" she added in surprise as she looked at the clock above the TV. "How long are Asgore and Papyrus gone?"

"Yeah, it's about two hours now..." Asriel's voice was a little worried. "Oh well, perhaps they have a lot to talk about... Do you wanna wait for them, or go to bed now?"

"Well it's still too early to go to bed..." she said, laid her head on Asriel's shoulder and closed her eyes. "But I kind of don't wanna do anything right now."

He strethed his arm that had been resting at the back of the sofa, behind Frisk's back, and put it around her shoulders; he placed his own head softly at Frisk's. They just sat like that for a while as the Wall Flowers credits ended and the screen turned black.

"Do you maybe wanna watch something else now?" Asriel asked her quietly. His mouth was so close to her ear it only made it sound more intimate.

"I don't know, maybe..." she replied. In reality, she didn't want him to leave her side, and he probably sensed it.

"Or we could just sit here and watch the black screen until they come back, it's your choice."

She giggled. "That sounds good, too."

They stayed right where they were. Frisk felt Asriel's chest rise and fall as he breathed; it was the only movement there. The time stopped, there was nothing but his presence, right there, right now, and for all she cared, this moment could last until she starves to death in Asriel's embrace.

His arm drew back a little bit; Frisk opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It was now about five minutes later.

"I'm sorry, Frisk, but you really look like you're gonna fall asleep soon," said Asriel; she looked up and saw him looking at her. "You should really go to bed."

"Can't I just sleep here?" she asked. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"I guess, but..." He paused mid-sentence and just stared into her eyes for a moment. "You should still get changed, you know. And if you're staying down here, I should at least bring you a blanket."

She smiled. "You're so sweet..."

They kept looking at each other, not moving.

Suddenly, she realised what's going on. She blinked. Asriel was there, smiling, staring, and it all felt so surreal. She watched as he blinked too and his head slowly began to lean towards her face which only now she noticed was moving as well...

BANG! Someone hit the front door with force. Frisk almost screamed from shock that mercilessly brought her back to this world. Both her and Asriel instinctively looked at the door. They could hear muffled voices from the corridor. It looked like the adults were finally back.

"Golly, what's this?" Asriel shouted as he stood up and went to open the door. It only took one look to see that they indeed had a glass of wine – many times. While Asgore was more or less able to stand on his feet, even though he had to lean on the doorframe, poor Papyrus was now sitting in the middle of the corridor mumbling and waving all over the place.

"Dad!" Asriel exclaimed loud enough to make it sound angry, but still in a low voice so that he didn't shout at the whole building. Frisk got up as well and walked towards the guys while Asriel rushed to Papyrus and tried to pull him up. The skeleton was protesting.

"I-I don't get it..." Asgore mumbled. Frisk grabbed his hand and pulled him in; he stumbled towards the sofa where he fell on his behind heavily. "I really... I meant... We-we didn't have..."

"What the hell, dad!" Asriel had just brought Papyrus inside and shut the door behind them. "You work with Papyrus for seven years, and you don't even know he doesn't drink?"

"He should have... said... iss not my fault," said Asgore. He probably felt guilty a little bit, but he wasn't in the state of expressing it well. Frisk looked over at Asriel and realised she has never seen him this upset. From the look on his face, she could tell that he's worried sick about poor Papyrus, too innocent and childish to ever touch any kind of alcohol in his life. It was probably his politeness and the fact that Asgore made it look so natural got him to agree with this, and his lack of experience to drink way more than he could handle.

"You know what, dad, just go to bed, we'll have to handle this. Gosh, Sans is gonna kill us," said Asriel. "Frisk, will you please help him get upstairs? Oh, and bring down some blanket while you're at it."

Asgore looked like he meant to help as well, but after a few failed attempts to get up, he probably admitted he won't be of any use to the situation. Frisk pulled him up and helped him climb up the stairs. There, Asgore automatically staggered towards his room where he fell on his bed and laid without moving. She came in after him and looked around; she spotted a folded blanket by the corner of the bed, so she snatched it and left, carefully closing the door behind her.

When she came back down the stairs, Asriel was just laying Papyrus down at the sofa. "He'll have to stay here for the night," he told her when he spotted her. "I'll stay here and calm him down if he tries to get back up. In case he throws up, the bathroom is right there-" he pointed at a door next to the kitchen- "...so I could bring him there faster than if he slept upstairs."

"Here's the blanket," said Frisk in response. Asriel took it and while comforting the skeleton who was still a bit uneasy, he spread it across his body.

"That settles it, you'll have to stay in my room," he told her. "You can go to sleep if you want, I've got Pap if he needs me. I'll be there once he's definitely asleep."

Frisk kind of wanted to stay with him and help too, but something in his voice convinced her she didn't want to argue with him. "Okay, then," she said. She would have been happy that she did, after all, get the chance to share the room with Asriel, but the sudden drama made her forget about that. She needed a while to process what just happened. "If you're sure you can handle this..."

"I am," he replied. "We had to save someone in the gang like this a couple of times."

"Fine, then... I'm going upstairs," said Frisk. She then approached Asriel who was patiently sitting by Papyrus' skull and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek as an unvoiced message that he doesn't need to worry. "But please, do bother me if you need anything else."


	11. A Cup Of Water

**CHAPTER X: A Cup Of Water**

A dark cavern – considering there was an insane number of corridors around, he learned to think of it as a room. Kind of like a lobby, an entrance to the ruins behind. This was where they all came in, long ago, before he came back to life. And this was where another one has come through, young, lost, confused and scared, but somehow with enough strength to keep moving forward.

"Down here," he told the human, "love is shared through... little white..." He hesitated for a little while. "...friendliness pellets!" A blatant lie, but the human presumably knew nothing about magic. They nodded, even though their eyes didn't believe anything they saw. He almost felt bad for them. Almost.

"Are you ready?" he said as he sent the bullets towards the child. "Move around! Get as many as you can!"

And the human fell for it.

A second later, the child was lying on the ground, weak and hopeless. He felt they wanted to cry for help, but... They were all too sure nobody would come. A clever assumption.

"You idiot... In this world, it's kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?" Well, that was fun. Maybe he should try to reset and do it again? He summoned a circle of bullets around the human. No, too soon to reset. He wanted to see them...

"DIE."

He laughed insanely and let the bullets fly towards the lying child.

And all of a sudden, their lips moved.

"Asriel!"

Strangely, her voice felt like it was coming from a great distance. But... wait, this wasn't right. How did she know? And how did **he** know that she was a **she**?

"Asriel, wake up!"

Now it definitely came from somewhere... else. The girl was gone. The cavern got darker. Wow, he never noticed there was a window in the cave. Right there, by the bed on which he lied...

"Come on, wake up already!"

Asriel gasped as he opened his eyes. He wasn't a flower trying to kill an innocent human, and he wasn't deep under the mountain. He was in his bedroom, and next to his bed, Frisk was leaning above him jiggling his shoulder. It took him a while to orient himself in this situation.

"Sorry, you were..." Frisk was worried. "You weren't sleeping well," she said hesitantly.

Memories of the nightmare flooded Asriel's head. He immediately thought what it must be for someone else to watch him sleep and relive the worst horrors of his life. Some people are talking during sleep; could he be one of them? Was he saying Flowey's lines out loud and laughing like a maniac? The fact that Frisk was there to witness it made him start to feel embarassed.

"Hi, Frisk..." he told her sleepily as he turned his face towards her. She just sat down on the edge his bed and was looking at him. She seemed a bit scared. "What do you mean?"

"You were mumbling... things. And rolling all over the place." Frisk's hand was squeezing his bed sheet nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," he told her and sat up so that their faces were at the same height. "I'm really sorry you had to see that."

"Don't be stupid, Asriel. Nobody's responsible for their dreams."

"Actually, I did bring this on myself, kind of," he told her. "But I don't wanna talk about it right now."

Asriel knew he was right: these nightmares kept coming back when he felt upset or anxious, which wouldn't have happened so often hadn't he been caring about others so much. This time, it was poor Papyrus' 'fault'. Before he went to sleep, Asriel had to sit by the sofa on which the skeleton slept and watch over him. Not five minutes after Frisk went upstairs, Papyrus woke up, rolled on his side and threw up on the floor, so he had to deliver him into the bathroom and clean up. All that time, he felt worried and sorry for his friend who had to live through this – not to mention what tomorrow's going to be like for him – and angry at his dad who let it happen. It was something they'll only laugh about in the future, but right now, it brought up his negative side again – and Flowey lived inside it.

At least Frisk was there to wake him up. When he came in the room, she found her half sitting, half lying in his armchair with eyes closed. He was hoping she'd taken his bed, and since she was aparently sleeping, he didn't want to pull her up just to offer it to her. He must have woken her up while he thrashed in his sleep.

"Thanks for waking me, by the way," Asriel added. "I should be fine now."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean, as long as you're here, nothing bad will dare to come after me, right?" he chuckled.

Next thing he knew, Frisk lifted her legs on the bed and dug under Asriel's blanket. "Well, by that logic, I should stay here until you're asleep again," she announced. "Move a little, will you?"

Despite his best effort, Asriel couldn't make enough space to provide a comfortable sleeping position. Unless he wanted to spend the night being wrapped all around Frisk, which he did but wasn't about to do so. They were both lying on their backs for a while.

"You didn't say anything when you came upstairs," Frisk whispered eventually. "How did you handle Papyrus?"

"You looked like you were sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb you. Papyrus was fine when I left, he did throw up, but I took care of it. He then fell asleep so deep he likely won't be up until forenoon."

"Okay... I feel bad for what happened," she replied.

"Me too..."

Silence.

"I've never heard anyone use the word 'forenoon' before," said Frisk.

"Me neither... I just read it somewhere and it made sense to me."

"It does make sense."

Silence.

"This isn't too comfortable, is it?" said Frisk.

"It's really not," he agreed.

"You know, you don't have to be so afraid of touching me, I can feel you all tense over there."

Asriel cackled again and loosened up a little bit. Their elbows were now touching. "To be honest, I'm more used to sleeping on my side."

"Me too." Frisk turned her back at him. Asriel rolled over as well and slowly placed his left arm behind her head and hugged her belly with the other, partly because there was nowhere else to put it. It felt a little like sleeping with a plush toy.

"Yup, that's better," he said. "Good night, Frisk."

"Night, As."

And they soon fell asleep like that.

The night had passed away. It was the beginning of December so there was no sunlight yet to announce the new day. When Asriel woke up and looked at the alarm clock at his night stand, it was just after six. He realised he didn't have any more nightmares that night. Maybe Frisk actually helped.

He closed his eyes again and, half instinctively, squeezed Frisk's body a tiny bit more tightly. She moved; her right hand crawled towards his and held it. And so they were, and so they stayed, their bodies intertwined like two cute puzzle pieces, and even though they were awake, it hadn't yet gotten to their heads. These are the rare moments when you're somehow aware that you're sleeping. It's one of the best feelings in the world. When people sleep, every cell in their body is resting. There's no pain, no troubling thoughts, no anything at all, only you. When you know your body is sleeping – and so did Frisk and Asriel at that moment – you have a rare opportunity to pretend everything is alright, or even that there's no "everything" at all. There's just a pleasant warmth of your bed and blanket's embrace.

The funny thing was that since Asriel's brain was on standby, he didn't care about any overcomplicated feelings he might had had for Frisk. He could only focus on the fact that she was there, her back curled up on his torso, her hand holding his own, her soft breath deepening the morning silence – and he loved her. There was no "but" and "what if" this time, that was the only thing that mattered.

They stayed like that for maybe twenty minutes, relishing their sleep as they were very, very slowly waking up. Finally, Asriel's brain started up, and he realised that no matter how beautiful this piece of time was, it won't be able to last forever. The thought of Frisk getting up, leaving his side, walking home without him, was hurting his heart; but it was inevitable, and he knew that. He shivered.

She felt it and started to move – slowly activating her muscles, one by one, until she was able to turn her body towards him. Their eyes met, telling stories that could never be put into words by any poet.

"I..." Asriel started, but he tried so hard to keep his voice quiet that he didn't make any sound at all. He gulped and tried again. "I don't want you to leave."

Frisk smiled. "I'm not going anywhere."

Their hands touched again and their fingers danced around each other for a while, caressing the other one's palm, wrist, patiently exploring the unknown territories of their forearms, shoulders, faces-

It was only a matter of time before their lips finally met as well. First, they just touched for a brief moment. Asriel closed his eyes and stopped moving. There's no coming back from this point, he thought. All that he desired for the last few weeks – or, if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, the last **seven years** – was suddenly there, in the form of two red lips gently pressing against his. Perhaps he should have felt fireworks going off all inside him – how can one compress seven years of hopes and dreams into something as small and innocent as a kiss? But all of his doubts seemed to just stare in awe; some of them politely stood up and left through the back door quietly as they didn't want to disturb.

They drew back a few atoms of distance. They looked at each other, trying to figure out what the other one was thinking.

Then their lips touched again, and this time, they both meant to uncover all of their secrets. Timidly and yet passionately, they danced around one another, catching and letting go again, trying different angles, knowing that this single moment in time only belongs to Asriel and Frisk and intending to make the best use of it.

After a while that could have lasted an entire age, they finally stopped. They smiled at each other and Frisk hugged him, laying her head on his chest. He rolled on his back and placed his arm around her shoulder. His other hand once again found hers and held it.

"Asriel?" she whispered.

"Hm?"

"Don't you think this is crazy?"

"It is... but it's a good kind of crazy, right?"

"Yeah..." she sighed.

"Look," said Asriel, looking for proper words; "I... think you know what's going on..."

She interrupted before he could finish: "I think I got the idea, yeah." And she giggled. "You don't have to put it in words, As." She stretched out towards his face and smooched him again to support her argument. Frisk then rested her head on his shoulder.

"If you think so..." he said. "I just hope you know how much you mean to me, I fear you might not realise. You're the greatest, awesomest thing in my life... and I like you beyond imagination."

"That's so nice to listen to," Frisk whispered.

"Fine, you're the greatest, awesomest thing in my life..."

She laughed and gave him a kiss to make him shut up. "You know, I think I know all too well how that feels."

Silence. But a much less uncomfortable one than before, at night.

"I'd like to go to the bathroom," Asriel said after a while. Frisk chuckled.

"So? Why don't you?"

"I don't want to let go."

She withdrew. "Off you go, you silly!"

"Fine, if you insist..." He sat up and crawled out of the bed. Frisk was in the way, so he had to leave through its feet.

"Hey, As?" he heard while he was almost at the door. He turned around and saw Frisk peeking at him from under the blanket.

"Yeah?"

"Knock knock."

Well, that came out of nowhere. "Um, who's there?"

"Goat."

"Goat who?" Does she mean me, or what?

Frisk blinked rapidly. "Go to the kitchen and fetch me some water, pretty please?"

He smiled. "Sure."

As he walked downstairs, checked on Papyrus who was sleeping the merciful sleep of a sick man, payed a visit to the bathroom and poured Frisk a cup of water, Asriel was trying to make some sense out of what had just happened. The two of them spent – he looked at the clock – about thirty minutes snuggling and smooching, just after they woke up, without any warning. He always pictured himself professing his love for Frisk with a thousand words with which he meant to explain everything that he likes about her and all the reasons he wanted to be with her, only hoping she would not turn him down. This was perhaps too easy. He wasn't complaining, but... it was rather anticlimactic.

And what was to happen now, anyway? Are they officially going to be boyfriend and girlfriend? It was nice that they shared that moment, but it didn't resolve much. Asriel was always the one to dislike not knowing what future brings. Maybe they had to talk about it.

But upon opening the door to his bedroom again and finding Frisk in the bed, burried under the blanket and immediately putting on a loving smile when her eyes saw him, he realised this is not the proper time to ask questions about them. This early morning hour, before Papyrus gets up and cries for help, preferably with a hammer into his skull, before dad sits in the kitchen, drinking an early cup of tea, filled with shame – this hour was theirs alone. There was no future to worry about. They had each other, and they couldn't ask for more.

"Thank you, sweetie," she said when he approached the bed.

Asriel placed the water on the night stand. "You're right, it is nice to hear such words." He bent down and kissed her.

"I'm afraid you'll hear a lot of them from now on," Frisk giggled at him, and as he got back to the bed, she took the cup of water.


	12. I'll Make It Up To You

**CHAPTER XI: I'll Make It Up To You**

It should have been so much easier since that morning they spent cuddling in Asriel's bed, getting used to the fact that their feelings were mutual.

It should have been the end of the story. But it wasn't.

As she walked through the door with Toriel that day, her eyes tied to Asriel's own gaze for the last time, Frisk felt something wrong between them. Their goodbye was, with regard to what happened earlier, kind of anticlimactic. Once Asgore woke up, soon followed by poor Papyrus, the fresh couple (as Muffet jokingly called them when she and Frisk discussed it all) soon fell into pretending nothing happened at all. They knew they weren't ready to let anyone learn the truth, especially their parents. Even the next week when they randomly saw each other at school, Frisk continued with her "just friends" behaviour.

The problem wasn't there... at least at first sight. Asriel seemed to be acting the same way, until eventually she realised there's more to it than just keeping their secret. When they talked in the school corridor for a short while, she couldn't have helped but notice he was being strangely cold towards her. He was smiling, asking questions and replying to her own, talking about small things – but he was tense, and his expression almost looked relieved for a second when the bell announced the end or the break. Soon, Frisk realised they haven't had a normal conversation, not even through UnderFace, in a few days, nor have they talked about going somewhere together alone.

Obviously, Asriel's attitude left her hurt and confused. Frisk thought of a few reasons to his behaviour, one crazier than the other. Maybe the worst part of it was actually that she didn't know what to think anymore; everything, from "he was just faking his affection before" all the way to "I did something to upset him and he doesn't like me anymore" seemed equally unlikely, but since there wasn't any better explanation, she soon began to seriously consider everything being possible.

Anyone else would have probably get mad enough at Asriel never to speak to him again. But Frisk wasn't anyone else. Her stubborn nature as well as her love for the monster, no matter how dumb he acted, made her determined to try and save the relationship from crumbling. Since she still had the tickets to Mettaton's show, she wrote Asriel three days before the date and asked him when and where did he want to meet with her before going – not giving him the chance to draw back by asking whether he still wanted to go there. Frisk thought this was the ultimate opportunity to turn things around; surely there would be time to talk about everything. Still, she said to herself as she was getting dressed, he'd better have a **great** excuse.

It was the 17th of December, about two weeks since the sleepover at Dreemurrs'. The show started at 7 in the evening; Frisk and Asriel were meeting an hour earlier at the plaza. It was dark and cloudy; a couple of first, the bravest snowflakes were softly landing on the streets. As she walked, she kept thinking that the snow probably wouldn't survive the night.

He was already there, his hands in his pockets. Asriel decided to wear a suit – it was a normal black coloured suit with a regular white shirt underneath. He didn't have a tie on; that way, his outfit basically said "This occasion is not special enough to make me **want** to look formal." To be fair, Frisk, who wore a plain dark blue dress and a heart locket, didn't put an enormous effort into her looks either – a lot of effort, of course, but she didn't overdo it. After all, it really wasn't a very formal event, but still, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt felt a bit inappropriate.

And Asriel seemed to have found her attractive as hell anyway, judging by the look he gave her as soon as he noticed her getting closer.

"Hi," said Frisk and put on a smile. He smiled back, but when she hugged him, she noticed he was a little reluctant to hug her back at first. She mentally sighed.

Not long after that, they walked slowly, side by side, to the theatre. Frisk so badly wanted to hold hands, but she sensed Asriel would not be up for that.

"That suit looks great on you," she told him after a while.

"Thank you," he replied politely. "You're gorgeous, too."

"Thanks."

Silence. An awkward kind of silence. Frisk almost started to question her decision to leave home for this.

"Are you looking forward to seeing Mettaton again?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. I wonder if he does something new."

"Even if not, it would still be worth watching, right?"

"Sure."

Their bodies were moving forward, slowly, silently and persistently like two icebergs. Heh, she thought... Iceberg. That suits him just perfect right now...

Several minutes later, having somehow managed to keep the conversation flowing, they almost reached the theatre. Frisk looked to the other side of the street and spotted two people standing under a light pole in a tight embrace; by the looks of it, they were making out like it was the end of times. At first, she wanted to look away – that was the last thing she needed right now, to be reminded what she could be doing with Asriel had he not been so mysteriously obtuse. But then she realised she knew the couple.

"Hey, look," she told him, "that's Undyne and Alphys!"

Asriel briefly glimpsed in that direction. "Yeah... They look like they don't want to be disturbed."

"Oh shush, let's go with them! The theatre is right around the corner anyway, so we might as well just arrive together."

"Hey, you!" The girls must have overheard familiar voices; they peeled off of each other and waved at them.

"Hi!" Frisk shouted and ran across the street where she jumped at the couple's necks. Asriel followed hesitantly.

"Hey, kid!" Undyne laughed and ruffled Frisk's hair. She's been used to doing that nearly every time she saw her since the day they met, and it still caught Frisk unprepared. "It's great to see you again!"

"Yeah, it was great to have a hairstyle while it lasted," she replied and attempted to arrange her hair back the way they were. Meanwhile, her companion reached the trio.

"And Asriel, I haven't seen you in months! How are you doing?" said Undyne when she noticed he was there, and bro-shook hands with him.

"You know... Could be worse," he told her. Even though he wanted to keep the serious face, he was clearly happy to see her and Alphys. At least the tension will probably ease off now, Frisk thought.

Still, as the four of them arrived at the theatre and were promptly taken backstage, she couldn't focus well. Asriel was glad he had someone around who he could talk to for a change... What the hell is going on? she kept asking herself. Did that morning really mean nothing to him? What made him say all those sweet things if he didn't mean them? Or did I do something to offend him that I'm not aware of? Screw this, if he's not going to explain himself soon, I'll...

"Oooh, hello, darlings!" Frisk almost bumped into a metal figure standing in front of her. Mettaton, or rather Mettaton EX, looked ready as always to entertain and be praised by hundreds. "It's nice to finally have you here."

It was interesting to watch everyone's reaction to the star's appearance. Alphys, who knew him before she even built the mechanical body for him, considered him her best friend as well as one of her favourite projects to have worked on; she immediately clenched him so tightly that his ribs, had he had any, would probably break instantly. Undyne has always been significantly more reserved towards Mettaton, so even though she, through her girlfriend, eventually got to know the better side of his personality, she could never bring herself to liking him more than an acquaintance. She just smiled and watched as he lifted Alphys into the air and gave her a metal kiss on both cheeks. As for Asriel, he admired the fact that Mettaton was an artist, but he didn't know him all that well and wondered what kind of behaviour to expect from him, so he leaned on the wall and waited for him to make the first move. When the robot placed Alphys back on the ground, he looked at him and winked.

Asriel nodded, but then he looked over his shoulder and saw a friendly face. Frisk only watched as he left; he stopped a few metres from them and greeted with Blooky. Over the years, Alphys built Napstablook a mechanical body as well – it was much easier to perform and do the technical stuff in corporeal form – but unlike his cousin, he almost exclusively used it during shows. The performance wasn't about to begin in the next forty minutes, so Blooky was still floating around as a ghost. He and Asriel chatted for a short while and then disappeared in one of the doors in the hallway.

Frisk knew that of all people who worked with Mettaton, Asriel liked the spooky DJ the best. However, he just basically used his friend as an excuse to bail on her, at least it felt that way.

From anyone else she'd be able to take it, but not from him. She already gave him all of her heart, and now he acted like he didn't care. Or did he actually not care? Hell if she knew.

In the course of the following thirty minutes, everyone has asked at least once if she was alright. Frisk couldn't remember what she was telling them. Usually she was good at hiding her emotions, but tonight it was as hard as trying to breathe under water, and she was about to drown.

This was ridiculous, wasn't it? She came here – and, moreover, dragged Asriel with her – to catch up with some of her closest friends and have fun watching the show. But instead, she was forced to deal with his bullshit. And the worst part was she couldn't know what to make of it – for all she knew, she could just be super paranoid right now.

By hook or by crook, there was someone Frisk needed to talk to immediately.

She excused herself and left everyone behind. When she saw a door leading to an emergency exit, she walked right through. Frisk found herself in a dark alley; from around the corner, she could hear voices of the people who were coming to the theatre through the main entrance. During the time their group was inside, it started to snow properly; there was a thin layer of white powder all over the alley, and since noone came in here, there were no footsteps in the snow to ruin the imagery.

She stood for a while to take it in. It was easier to cope with everything when there was nobody else around.

After a minute or so, Frisk reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone, and called the one person who she thought could tell her what to do.

"Hello, sis!" she heard Muffet say joyfully through the speaker.

"Hi. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"I just... It's about Asriel," Frisk sighed. "You know how he's been lately, and I don't know what to do anymore."

"So he's still beying a jerk, isn't he?" The spider almost sounded amused. "Dearie, do you trust me?"

"More than anyone, Muf, you know that."

"Good. So, promise me next time you see him, just ask him to kiss you."

"What?" That was one of the least expected advices Frisk could have imagined.

"Just promise me!" Muffet wasn't joking. "That will make him think about what's more important to him – to be with you, or stay crawled up his own butt."

"You know, as crazy as it sounds, that actually makes sense," said Frisk. "That's something you'd do, right?"

"You bet I would! If Enic behaved this way, I'd make him think about what he really wants. And you know why? Because I love him, and I wouldn't let him make a moron of himself."

"You're a perfect girlfriend, you know that?"

"Yup!" she chuckled. "Seriously though, it's gonna be fine. You have a hell of a show to watch, so don't you dare be all gloomy!"

"Thanks a lot, sis," said Frisk, not entirely contented but at least glad to know her spider sister always has her back.

"No problem," Muffet replied. "When you're done making out with Asriel, tell him I said hi, ok?"

"Shut up," she giggled. "Bye!" And hung up.

Frisk wasn't sure if she'd actually tell him to kiss her... But she knew it would be reasonable to ask him what was wrong. Then again, he might just tell her "nothing" and they'd be right where they started. Why did things have to be so complicated...

She overheard someone fiercely open the door behind her. Frisk turned around and saw noone else than Asriel standing there with a pestered expression.

"Oh, thank God, you're still here," he sighed with relief and rushed towards her. "I couldn't see you anywhere, so I was afraid you left."

She couldn't help but smile in confusion. "Um, no? Why would I leave?"

"I know, it's stupid, but... I thought you might have been upset with me," Asriel told her. He stood a few feet in front of her and suddenly looked mega embarrassed. "Which you'd have every right to, I... I acted so strange and horrible."

Frisk was a little surprised, she didn't expect him to bring it up on his own, let alone just a few seconds after Muffet told her to do something. Plus, she just saw how awful would it make Asriel feel had he lost her. "Can you at least tell me what the heck is going on?"

He looked the most anxious she ever saw him. "I'm so sorry, Frisk... It was just..." Sigh. "I know it's going to sound terrible, but I wasn't sure if you liked me."

Snow was falling lazily in between the two of them and melting on their faces.

"After we kissed," Asriel continued, "and after we had to pretend nothing happened in front of everyone... It got me thinking... I realised that maybe you deserve better, maybe you should be with someone who you wouldn't have to be ashamed for."

Are you serious? she thought, genuinely perplexed. It comes down to his low self-confidence again? Frisk didn't know it she wanted to be relieved it wasn't something far worse, or disappointed that Asriel couldn't let go of his issues. Ultimately, she felt sorry that his brain did this to him. If he can't pull himself together on his own, she'll help him.

"You As, what are you talking about? Why would I need to be ashamed for you? Aside from how you behaved the last few weeks." she told him.

"Again, I'm sorry... I just couldn't think of a reason why you should want to be with me. So I held myself back from even touching you each time we met. And each time I hated myself for it more and more." Asriel overcame his fear and looked into her eyes. "I know I'm an idiot. I was too selfish, too egocentric to see it hurts you." He gulped. "I don't want to let you down as a friend. It took me a while to realise, but..."

"A friend?" Frisk interrputed him. "In case you haven't noticed, Asriel, you're much more dear to me than just a friend! It pains me to see that something troubles you and you won't tell me what it is, you know? I don't want you to hide anything from me."

"Seriously? Wouldn't you be happier if you didn't know all the ways I messed up?"

"Nobody's perfect. But you're awesome in so many ways you don't see! You're kind, caring, you always find a way to make me laugh... And every time we talk, you make me feel special. And happy." She stroked on his elbow. "So what if you made a mistake? It doesn't matter to me, so you don't have to punish yourself over it."

"I can't just drop it! I feel like such a mess, I disappointed you." He seemed really angry with himself. "It's nice that you're willing to forgive me, but I don't know if I even deserve to be around you now."

"Stop it already! For God's sake, I love you-" She studdered for a second, caught off guard by her own courage. "I love you for who you are, and I want to be here for you no matter what. It'd be kind of you to never question that."

"I..." Asriel was short for words, affected by her confession. He was clearly trying to quit doubting himself. "I can't understand, but..."

"I only have one favour to ask." Frisk took a tiny step forward. "Kiss me."

"Are you...?"

"Please."

He leaned forward slowly. She closed her eyes and felt their lips intertwine once again. Asriel was careful first as if he was afraid she might pull back. When she didn't, he finally seemed to have calmed down and focused on the kiss, in which she could feel everything he was hesitant to tell her: how he felt about her, his grattitude for what she just said, his desire to make everything right for her.

Frisk didn't know how long it took before they've had enough. Finally, she opened her eyes again and saw Asriel looking at her lovingly.

"See?" she whispered. " **That** is what you feel, and that is all that matters. Nothing more and nothing less." Frisk smiled. "Confident now?"

"Yeah... you're amazing," he told her. "I don't know what else to say."

"You don't have to say anything," she ensured him and gave him a kiss again. "Just, remember this moment whenever you start to think you're not good enough for me. You're everything I want from life."

They hugged. The white powder never stopped falling so they were slowly turning into snowmen, but they couldn't care less. Now that Asriel has gotten it out of his chest, Frisk was relieved that she didn't have to worry about them anymore. She was right: Asriel wasn't perfect in all the ways, but when she fell in love with him, she wanted the whole package, not just the best, shiniest treats.

"Frisk..." he said slowly and quietly; "I swear I'll stop beating myself over my mistakes... You make me want to be a better person, for you."

"Mm-hm..." was all she could reply with.

"I love you too," Asriel added, making Frisk nearly collapse from happiness. "I regret that I ever tried to deny it... I promise, I'll make it up to you."


	13. Epilogue: Forever

**Epilogue: Forever**

First, there were flowers.

Roses seemed quite an obvious choice, having been associated with romance all around the world – which was exactly why Asriel had chosen differently. Instead, he remembered that Frisk once told him her favourite flowers were tulips, so putting them in a vase at the table was also a sneaky way of telling her that he remembered. He considered himself romantic, but he didn't want to stick with clichés. Originality was his secret weapon.

Apart from the flowers, everything seemed normal - except for two empty plates and two empty glasses on the table. There was a DVD case lying on the couch, also empty. The TV stopped playing half an hour ago.

Asriel's apartment was silent, save for the soft sound of running water behind the bathroom's closed door – which he could barely hear all the way up in his bedroom. And yet, the growing impatience had somehow sharpened his senses. All he could do was remain motionless and listen, either hearing the shower or only imagining so. It didn't matter to him which it was.

Asriel thought back about the evening before Mettaton's show, when Frisk taught him that valuable lesson. It reminded him of how she saved him all those years ago, in the emptiness of the world's end that he conducted. She was easily able to forgive him for everything he had done and assured him she cared about him. Apparently, that hadn't changed.

He loved her for the fact that she could always see the good in him when he couldn't. Truth be told, Asriel was trying hard to become a better person for her. Since he had Frisk to help him let go of his inner Flowey, he was finally beginning to like himself more. His paranoia, his self-criticism, his fear of abandonment, and so on – one by one, they were slowly disappearing. Of course he wasn't so naïve to think they had gone away for good, but he had hope and the courage to face his issues head on.

Two months weren't a time long enough to prove anything – but they were two months of him and Frisk enjoying each other's company without any doubts or remorses. They weren't going to tell anyone at first, but the word somehow spread all over school in the span of the few days before Christmas holidays, so they decided to tell their parents soon rather then let them accidentaly find out themselves. Asriel's dad assured him he had nothing to worry about – he knew how close he and Frisk were and, as he said, was only waiting for the two of them to finally take this step. As for Toriel, he wasn't there to see her reaction, but Frisk told him she was almost ok with it. She had more trouble processing the fact that her sweet little girl entered a serious relationship than thinking about how she's dating **him** of all people.

Since New Year's Eve, the two of them were, as they liked to call it, publicly inseparable. So far, these were the busiest and happiest days of Asriel's life. And they weren't alone with their happiness. Muffet, for instance, was going crazy when she found out. Asriel soon realised she must have known since the very moment Frisk began to feel something and helped her get through it – or get to him, rather. He was grateful enough to let his girlfriend drag him to one of Muffet's tea parties and take the chance to get to know her better. After all, she was Frisk's best friend so he wanted to like her as well.

Fast forward to February. Asriel noticed the water downstairs stopped running and his heart started to beat a bit faster.

Dad told him he would be on a business trip for the weekend, but a small part of him suspected Asgore of making it up and simply sleeping elsewhere to let him and Frisk have the apartment all for themselves for the night. If that was the case, Asriel thought, he might have the best dad of all dads that ever dadded.

They waited a long time for this, and yet, when the moment was within their reach, he wasn't far from panicking. In theory, he knew what there was to know, but he couldn't know how easy or difficult is it going to be in reality. For Frisk's sake, he wanted everything to be beyond perfect, and he wasn't sure if he was capable of doing that.

The door slowly opened.

She stood there, as beautiful as always. She wore a white T-shirt of a significantly larger size than herself so it served as a nightdress to her. As she looked at him, her chest was rising and falling restlessly.

Asriel saw her and immediately stopped worrying about anything. Frisk was here, and all that mattered was that he loved her from the deepest bottom of his heart. All he really wanted to do was let her feel what he felt.

She took a step forward. Then another. She closed the door behind her. She smiled at him nervously.

"You're cute," Asriel told her. She giggled, but didn't respond.

"Are you afraid?" he asked. His feet fell at the floor as he lifted his torso to sit down on the bed's edge.

"I'm not..." said Frisk. "I don't even know what I am right now."

"I just told you, you're cute." He sticked his tongue at her.

She reached the bed and sat next to him. "Six months ago, I couldn't even bring myself to imagine... all this."

"And now, look at us." Asriel took her hand. Frisk looked into his eyes. "Who would have thought?"

They remained silent, not sure where to begin.

"Actually," he added after a moment, " **I** would have. A few years ago, I met someone great, she made me feel something I hadn't felt in a long time... and since that day, I never wanted anything more than to be with her, every second of every day of every year, until I fall down." He brought her hand towards his lips and kissed it. "You know damn well who I'm talking about, don't you?"

Frisk laughed, her eyes not far from watering. "And you waited all that time to tell her," she said jokingly.

"That's one way to put it," Asriel replied. She stood up, only to sit on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck. "I like to think I've saved up seven years of loving her."

"And what are you going to do with them?" she asked, and pressed her lips towards his gently.

"I don't know... Maybe I'll need them one day when she'll become too annoying for me to love her anymore..."

"You're an idiot," she giggled again, and slapped him softly on the back of his head.

"...or, and you'll like that..." he continued and kissed her again; "maybe I can spend them all right now."

"Yeah, I do like that..." Frisk whispered.

They kissed passionately, and this time, they couldn't stop. And even if those seven years passed, they wouldn't care about time.

As he held Frisk in his arms, feeling so much love it almost hurt him, all that Asriel could think was...

I want to stay like this forever.

* * *

**THE END.**


End file.
